Lakers Injury Report: Gabe Vincent's Recovery Timeline Predicted After Surgery

How much can Vincent help the team?

Your Los Angeles Lakers’ "big-name" offseason acquisition, Gabe Vincent, has underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

The Lakers announce Gabe Vincent underwent successful arthroscopic surgery today. He will be re-evaluated in approximately eight weeks. https://t.co/0gFMz76Zed

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) December 28, 2023

That’s the longer side of the initial 6-8 week estimate.

We knew this was coming, but for what it's worth, it's a really tough blow for the Lakers. Vincent has upside to be a contributing piece, but nagging injuries throughout the season thus far has left him with averages of five points per game on 11% 3-point shooting in just five appearances. 

A 6-8 week absence is particularly noteworthy seeing as the trade deadline is in exactly six weeks (42 days), meaning thatby time it comes around, we still won't know how Vincent really factors into the fold, given that he won’t be healthy yet. His role, contribution, and impact, will remain unknown until after the deadline, which greatly wrenches LA's ability to optimize their moves at the deadline, since they won't have a full grasp on their existing roster. 

I find this to be a massive problem personally, as applicably speaking, this could end up meaning either an unnecessary trade for a guard that fills the role (3-and-D-esque with decent self-creation and playmaking skills) that Vincent is supposed to fill (and could after the injury), or a decision to instead not make a trade for a player fitting Vincent's mold on the basis that he'll return and produce – which there's no guarantee of at all. 

His health issues have also nerfed his trade value, as while he could easily have as much value as D'Angelo Russell at times, he currently has next to no value as there's limited understanding of what he'll look like post-injury, as a combination of struggling to adjust to a new team, as well as rehabbing from surgery could leave him on a minutes restriction entering pivotal points of the season (late February/early March). 

This signing was a complete miss for the time being by Pelinka and co., but he's locked up for a couple of seasons, so maybe he adds some value in the future.