Gabe Vincent proved he can stay healthy and contribute this season, but he still likely isn’t the answer off the bench the Lakers need.
Welcome to our annual Lakers season in review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we continue with a look at Gabe Vincent.
When the Lakers signed Gabe Vincent two summers ago, they envisioned the guard would bring a level of stability needed to their backcourt.
At the time, Vincent was fresh off playing a key role in the Miami Heat’s Finals run. In contrast, the Lakers’ guards became increasingly more inconsistent the further the team advanced in the playoffs. The need for a battle-tested player made sense.
Unfortunately, Vincent never got the chance to prove the Lakers’ investment in him was worth it, as he missed nearly his entire first season with the team due to a knee injury.
With many ready to call the signing a sunk cost, Vincent returned to the court this year and was surprisingly available almost every night. As one of JJ Redick’s first numbers called off the bench, Vincent emerged as a core piece to what was a successful regular season.
However, like the Lakers, there was a ceiling to Vincent’s abilities.
How did he play?
First of all, Vincent did play, which was a major improvement in itself.
After appearing in just 11 games in his first year with the Lakers, Vincent played in 72 this past season.
With the injury behind him, the 28-year-old lived up to his reputation on the court. Vincent was a rugged defender, hit timely shots and approached every game with a level of seriousness the team needed. But his impact was far too sporadic.
His role on the Lakers essentially was that of a prototypical 3-and-D guard. On some nights, he excelled. He canned open looks and hounded opposing ball-handlers on the perimeter. On other nights, those same shots clanked off the rim and his defense fell flat.
With a whopping 73% of his shots coming from behind the arc this past season, the games where Vincent was cold were particularly brutal. This was because, beyond the occasional pull-up in the midrange, Vincent offered very little else in terms of offensive value outside of his 3-ball.
After his horrific shooting numbers in his first season with the team, Vincent bounced back to his near-Miami form, shooting 37% from three when removing garbage time and heaves. The final number, while healthy, doesn’t adequately capture the peaks and valleys.
That context is important because if Vincent’s jumper were a roller coaster, it’d be Goliath.
Cleaning the Glass
As the graph above illustrates, Vincent’s 3-point percentage fluctuated throughout the year. This is not entirely abnormal for role players, but it is frustrating for those whose production is as dependent on shots going in as Vincent’s is. This is not to mention his questionable, at best, shot selection. Let us all be blessed with the confidence he has in his shooting ability.
His effectiveness on defense also wavered by season’s end. Yet this was often not entirely his fault. Vincent competed hard and helped foster a feistiness that the team adopted. However, there were many instances where effort was not enough.
At just 6’2,” opposing players were consistently able to shoot over the top and make him a non-factor on the glass. Vincent’s literal shortcomings were also compounded by the Lakers’ reliance on switching and lack of rim protection behind him.
His limitations were made even more apparent in the playoffs. Going up against bigger, stronger and faster counterparts, he was unable to provide the stability the Lakers sought when they initially signed him.
The intangibles he provided throughout the year were important and valuable. Yet they only go so far when the production and athleticism don’t reach a certain threshold. Numbers aren’t everything, but they do matter.
What is his contract situation moving forward?
After signing a three-year deal with the Lakers in 2023, Vincent will be a walking expiring contract this season.
As a result, expect the remaining $11.5 million owed to him to be one of the team’s most aggressively shopped trade chips this summer.
Should he be back?
While Vincent bounced back from his unremarkable first year with the team, his future with the Lakers remains murky at best.
There is an argument to be had that Vincent actually played as well as the Lakers could’ve realistically hoped for. He was healthy, made his threes at a solid rate and cared enough on defense. The issue is that it still clearly was not enough.
Even when viewing Vincent just through the prism of other combo guards around the league, there are several boxes he doesn’t check. He doesn’t playmake for others (second percentile), he doesn’t help on the glass (0th percentile), he fights but is too small to defend most matchups and his jumper is wildly too inconsistent.
If in the right role or beside the right pieces, Vincent’s limitations could be mitigated, as was the case in Miami. Yet on a Lakers’ roster that already has shortcomings in both athleticism and interior size, Vincent’s presence compounded the issues at times.
Vincent finishing up his contract in LA wouldn’t be the end of the world by any stretch, but it would be poor asset management. Given that the Lakers will likely not re-sign Vincent to a new deal, they should try to utilize his contract while they still have access to it.
Barring him taking a massive leap forward, trading Vincent for a piece that can better help now or later could end up being his lasting impact in Los Angeles.
All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Bluesky at @alexregla.bsky.social.