Lakers Injury Report: Gabe Vincent Could be Facing Surgery and Lengthy Recovery

Gabe Vincent could be out for 6-8 weeks.

The signing of former Miami Heat starting guard Gabe Vincent was supposed to be a major get for the Lakers, fixing key issues of poor point-of-attack defense and inconsistent three-point shooting. 

Vincent is a solid point-of-attack defender, along with having hit 38% of his 3-point attempts as the starting point guard on the 2023 Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat squad.

With the Lakers, however, things have been a disaster from the jump. 

The UC Santa Barbara product has been injured nearly all season, seeing the floor in just 5 of the team's 28 games thus far. He's averaging a porous 5 points per game on 11% from behind the arc, and worse, news has come out that may keep him out until the homestretch of the regular season.

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A 6-8 week recovery timeline suggests that Vincent will be out at least until the Feb. 8th trade deadline, which is an issue largely because LA won't have a grasp on what he'd be able to contribute when healthy, impacting their ability to make necessary trades. 

At his best, Vincent is a capable 3-and-D point guard which would eliminate the need for LA to trade for another point of attack defender/shooter, but if he ends up playing at a low level all season, they'll be without an integral piece that every contending team possesses. 

Aside from the impact on future trades, this is a major problem for the Lakers in the short-term. Vincent can be a valuable asset, and without him, LA's three biggest issues: shot creation, shooting, and point-of-attack defense, are all amplified. He needs to come back sooner rather than later.