Taurean Prince Arrested In Miami

11:35am: Police in Arlington, Texas say they found guns and a vape pen with THC oil in Prince’s car when they stopped him in May for an expired registration, according to Eric Chaloux of KSTP-TV (Twitter thread).

Possession of marijuana is illegal in Texas, and it also violates state law “to carry a gun while engaging in a criminal offense,” the police said.

8:33am: Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince was arrested on Thursday in Miami, according to several reports, including from KSTP in Minnesota and Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

KSTP’s report indicates that Prince was booked into jail custody on Thursday evening in Miami-Dade County. According to Hine, Prince was arrested at Miami International Airport on a fugitive out-of-state warrant from Texas. The six-year NBA veteran was born in San Marcos, Texas, was raised in San Antonio, and attended Baylor for college.

Details are still sparse on the possible charges that Prince is facing. Andy Slater of Fox Sports 640 South Florida reported (via Twitter) that the Texas warrant was drug-related, but that has yet to be confirmed.

“We are aware of the alleged report regarding Taurean Prince and are in the process of gathering more information,” the Timberwolves said in a statement on Thursday.

Prince, 28, was a regular part of Minnesota’s rotation in 2021/22, averaging 7.3 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 69 games (17.1 MPG). He’s a solid, versatile defender, as well as a reliable floor spacer (.376 3PT% last season).

Prince had been on track for unrestricted free agency this summer, but the Timberwolves signed him to a two-year contract extension just before the new league year began. That deal includes a guaranteed base salary of $7.1MM for 2022/23, with $195K in likely incentives and another $870 in unlikely incentives for the coming season. The second year of the contract is non-guaranteed.

We’ll have to wait for additional information to get a real sense of how serious Prince’s legal situation is and whether it will affect his availability at all for the coming season.