Brooklyn Nets: Taurean Prince stays put, signs big deal with Nets

What better way to lead up to the Brooklyn Nets opener and the NBA opener in general, than with news breaking. Recently acquired, Taurean Prince doesn’t have to worry about leaving the borough of Brooklyn in the immediate future.

The ever-reliable Woj adds more information to the deal, describing it as a two-year deal that would dish out a little more than 14m/yr.

This is a swift move by the Nets organization. Sean Marks and Nets brass seem to sign their guys instead before their contracts are up so as not to be at the mercy at the overpaying market. We’ve seen it with Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris Levert, and now Prince. A trend is being established, a pattern that looks to be a good one. We have seen plenty of players get new contracts over the last few days, and the consensus for a lot of them is that they have gotten overpaid. With this in mind, Marks recent deals look more and more like bargains and steals.

But just as important as the financial aspect of things, if not more so, is the on the court ability Prince brings. The casual NBA fan may not realize it due to his time on the Atlanta Hawks, but Prince is a lethal shooter. I mean, he has an absolute burner. For his career, Prince is shooting 38% from beyond. A lot of that stems from his last two years, where he shot 38.5 and 39% from 3. Another important note is that every year, his shooting percentage from the field overall and the three has increased. In his fourth year, he has a chance to improve on those numbers yet again. He’ll have more attention taking from him than he probably did in Atlanta, and he’s under Kenny Atkinson, one of the best developmental coaches in the NBA. Most players under his tutelage usually improve, especially from beyond the arch.

To add to this, the Fresh Prince has had a great Preseason. Yes, I know it’s Preseason, and yes, I know it is only four games, but hopefully, these are signs of things to come. In those four showings, not only did Prince average a team-high 16.8ppg, but he also shot 69.6% from deep (while shooting above 60% overall). Now while we expect these numbers to go down, it is an exciting thing to see. Last season there was buzz around Joe Harris and his shooting. Some wondered if Harris could find his way into a very exclusive 50-40-90 club. Well, now we have to wonder the same thing about Prince.

The last thing to note, the Nets seem more or less invested in this core. They are trying to keep their pieces intact for the next couple of years. When Kevin Durant returns, he and Kyrie Irving will have no shortage of help surrounding them. Now, if they can retain Joe Harris, they’ll have two of the league’s best role-playing shooters to go along with two of the NBA’s best shooters in general. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, this is how Prince feels about the organization and this move. We’ve come a long way, Nets Nation.