30 December 2023
The Los Angeles Lakers’ roster is flush with very recent Timberwolves.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Los Angeles, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Taurean Prince just signed with the Lakers in the offseason after playing two years with Minnesota. D’Angelo Russell was dealt from Minnesota to Los Angeles in February. Jarred Vanderbilt was a piece of the package sent to Utah in the Rudy Gobert deal in the summer of 2022.
So contests like Saturday’s at Target Center are essentially giant reunions masquerading as basketball games.
“It’s always fun, it’s always good. Those are guys that I actually gravitated to a lot,” Wolves center Naz Reid said. “You’re going out there and competing against them while they’re playing well, as well. So you get to congratulate them on their success for how they’re doing, especially TP. It’s been great and going to compete against each other. And having that last laugh before you hit the road is always good to have.”
Vanderbilt is back in the Lakers’ rotation after he missed the first 20 games of the regular season with a heel injury. He originally came off the pine to start the season, but was moved into the starting lineup three games ago — immediately following the Lakers’ loss to Minnesota on Dec. 21.
The person he replaced as a starter was Russell, whose tenure with the Lakers has been similar to his time in Minnesota — some occasional bright spots with a lot of frustration in between.
After the guard struggled in the Western Conference finals in the spring — in which the Lakers were swept by Denver — he has shot the ball well this season. But his defensive shortcomings were too difficult for Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham to overlook.
It was after the Lakers’ loss to Minnesota that Russell infamously said, in regards to his poor defense, “that’s where I try to be better, but that’s not what I do.” Which was a stark contrast from the preseason, in which Russell said he wanted to model his defense after Boston guard Derrick White, who has evolved into one of the game’s premier perimeter defenders.
Prince has managed to hold his spot in the Lakers’ starting lineup throughout the season after not starting for the Wolves for the past two years and inking a one-year, $4.5 million deal with Los Angeles in free agency. The 29-year-old veteran wing has done so by consistently taking on the most difficult defensive matchup on a night to night basis, while also shooting 39 percent from deep.
Given his current play, is the player of the three who’d be most likely to find a spot in Minnesota’s current rotation.
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“He has been on fire the last couple games,” Reid said prior to Saturday’s tilt. “He’s somebody that we’ve been looking to do a couple things with. Just gotta maintain him and do our best job.”
Best from 25
Todd Whitehead from Synergy Basketball put out an interesting graphic on his X account Saturday that showed the scoring leaders from each one-foot increment during the 2023 calendar year. Chicago Bulls guard DeMar Derozan dominated the mid-range, while Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best around the rim and Denver’s Nikola Jokic stood above the rest in the paint. Predictably, Golden State’s Steph Curry reigned supreme from beyond 26 feet.
But Curry didn’t score the most points from 25 to 26 feet. The length of 3-pointer belonged to Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.