Getty Gabe Vincent (in black) of the Lakers
Back before the start of the NBA season, a Western Conference assistant coach was talking about the Los Angeles Lakers roster. While much of what the Lakers had were players who were with the team after last year’s trade deadline and into the team’s playoff run, the one guy who stood out was new: guard Gabe Vincent.
“To me,” the coach said, “there is your wildcard.”
Vincent agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with the Lakers this summer, taking him from the bosom of the Miami Heat—the team that developed him—to the Lakers. Vincent has experience on the big stage, of course, playing in the NBA Finals last season with the Heat last season after getting to Game 7 of the East finals the previous year.
But he has been a wild card in a different way through the first two months of the season. Vincent suffered a knee injury four games into the season and has been out since.
And, frustratingly, the team still is not saying when we might see Vincent in purple-and-gold. Reports have held that he could play Monday against the Knicks. Coach Darvin Ham said on Friday, “We won’t speculate. Once we get our update on Gabe Vincent, we’ll let you guys know. He had a good workout today and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
“You can’t control health… the sooner we can get healthy the better.” Darvin Ham speaks on the injuries and effects of the IST.
Gabe Vincent Could Help With Lakers Issues
The Lakers have improved significantly since their rocky start to the season, going 12-6 after sitting at 3-5 through their first eight games. But the issues the team has this year, primarily their perimeter defense and 3-point shooting, were issues they had last year, ones that showed up especially in the playoffs. The Lakers shot a measly 33.5% from the 3-point line in the postseason last year.
Vincent struggled with his shot last year, making 33.4% from the 3-point line a year after making a career-high 36.8%. He was not going to fix the Lakers’ problems by himself. But he could be a key factor.
“The thing I thought was brilliant about the Gabe Vincent move for them was that it was so low-risk,” the coach said. “Obviously, you have the contract but it is a good contract, a contract you could trade. And on the floor, the worst you have is a very good backup point guard who is not going to turn it over and can knock down some shots. The best, you have a point guard in his prime who still has his best basketball in front of him.”
Injuries Still Hampering Roster
There was a chance, at least, that Gabe Vincent would work his way into the starting five by the time the end of the season came around. He would have to unseat D’Angelo Russell to do so, and that is a shaky proposition, with Russell averaging a solid 16.0 points offensively.
But Russell’s postseason struggles last year are in the forefront of the Lakers’ approach this year. And by playoff time, if Gabe Vincent is healthy, he could yet land the starting job.
In addition to Vincent, the Lakers are dealing with injuries to Anthony Davis, Cam Reddish and Russell.
“Obviously they’re all dealing with some different issues, various issues. I think D-Lo’s situation is more under the weather. And then obviously A.D. is with his ankle and Cam with his knee. But throughout it all, we just got to get healthy,” Ham said.
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Lakers Prepared for Return of $33 Million ‘Wildcard’