3 Lakers who will definitely be traded before the 2024 deadline

The Lakers will definitely trade Taurean Prince

Taurean Prince would probably be the most untouchable player on the Los Angeles Lakers if Darvin Ham was the one calling the shots. Ham has a weird infatuation with Prince, which is strange because it didn't even seem like Prince was going to start before the season.

Prince has started every single game for the purple and gold and is averaging 30.9 minutes per game this season. To his credit, he has been one of the most durable players on the roster this season and is starting to turn his shooting around, so the numbers look a lot better than they did earlier in the season.

That being said, there are a lot of players in the league that can do what Prince is doing right now and he is not someone who should be playing 30 minutes a game. In the three seasons combined before this season Prince had just 12 total games with 30 or more minutes. Now he is averaging more minutes than that per game. That is an issue.

The Lakers front office may need to trade Prince to protect Ham from himself. More important, though, is Prince's contract figure and how it lends itself to being easier to trade. Prince is making $4.5 million this season. At this number, Prince might become an important piece of a trade package just to make the money work.

As previously mentioned, there are a lot of players who can do what Prince does so the Lakers do not have to worry about losing out on his 30 minutes a game. If anything, Prince should be packaged in a bigger deal that gives the Lakers an upgrade at the small forward position.

Because if Prince is still starting and playing 30 minutes a game by the time the playoffs roll around then the Lake Show is not going to make it very far.