hen the calendar switched over to 2024, the 36-30 Los Angeles Lakers got hit hard by the injury bug. To be fair, the two most disruptive injuries this season have been lingering off and on for much of the year. Los Angeles reserve point guard Gabe Vincent has been available for a scant five games due to a left knee effusion. The 6’3″ vet, 27, inked a three-year, $33 million contract last summer thanks to a run to the Miami Heat’s starting point guard in the NBA Finals (they would eventually lose against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and his team, who would win their first-ever NBA championship).
The UC Santa Barbara graduate was lured back to Southern California by Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka in the hopes that he would be a marginally more proficient shooter than Dennis Schröder. After two seasons without a playoff appearance with Los Angeles, Schröder left for more financial pastures this summer, signing a two-year, $25.4 million contract with the Toronto Raptors. Since then, the Brooklyn Nets have acquired him.
Vincent, unfortunately, has not been healthy enough to serve as the solid point-of-attack defender and useful backup passer and shooter, which is exactly what Pelinka was hoping he would be. In his few games played, he has averaged a pitiful 5.4 points.shooting splits of 375/.118/.500, three assists, 1.2 steals, and one rebound. He finally needed to be taken out of the game for additional treatment because it was obvious that he was hurt.
Eventually, the bothersome left knee condition produced a scope. He’s still recovering. Vincent has been given permission to participate in non-contact exercises, head coach Darvin Ham reportedly disclosed to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. To put it mildly, it’s an encouraging development!
It’s not just Vincent who gets injured frequently this season. Due to a right mid-foot sprain, defense-first combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt has only played in 29 games this year. Since February 3rd, Vanderbilt has been out of circulation. This season, he’s only managed 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists on average, but his true worth as the team’s most versatile defender is hidden by his meager production. The 6’8″ Kentucky prospect, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, is still developing but hasn’t quite reached non-contact work yet:
Time is running out for LA. The NBA play-in tournament is just a month away. One wonders how much Vincent or Vanderbilt will be able to ramp up to postseason form with whatever limited regular season run they do wind up getting.
