3 Lakers who won’t last the entire 2022-23 season with the team

Jun 6, 2022; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham speaks after being introduced at UCLA Health Training Center Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 6, 2022; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham speaks after being introduced at UCLA Health Training Center Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

3. Wenyen Gabriel

Wenyen Gabriel joined the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season and I would bet that he joins another team at some point during the 2022-23 season. Gabriel is a prime candidate to be packaged alongside Walker in a potential deal or he could just be waived outright to make room for someone else.

Gabriel probably should have been the player that the Lakers included in the Talen Horton-Tucker trade for Patrick Beverley instead of Stanley Johnson. Los Angeles traded one of its only wings on the roster in favor of keeping a frontcourt player who fits oddly in this rotation.

Gabriel was fine last season as a contingency fill-in while Anthony Davis was hurt but with AD healthy and two new centers on the roster his place is a bit questionable. Gabriel is a power forward who cannot space the floor at all. He can play small-ball five, but that is not needed with Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones.

Los Angeles already has a player in-house that would add more to the team than Gabriel does. Cole Swider is a legitimate sharpshooter on a two-way contract and giving him the power forward minutes that Gabriel is getting would be far better for the team.

Gabriel probably is not going to see many minutes in the rotation as is and his place on the Lakers roster definitely is not set in stone.