3 Lakers who are already primed to get traded this season
By Jason Reed
Gabe Vincent is primed to get traded by the Lakers
The Gabe Vincent signing was met with applause by the fanbase but it never really made sense. There were legitimate red flags with Vincent when the Lakers signed him and those red flags are already starting to show early in the season.
There are 173 players in the NBA who have played 100 minutes so far this season. Vincent ranks 171st in points per 36 minutes, racking up a total of 7.6 points per 36. Only Kyle Lowry and Patrick Williams have been worse.
Vincent was never viewed as someone who would sign a three-year, $33 million contract before the 2023 NBA Playoffs began. Vincent got hot in the playoffs, and more power to him, but that shouldn’t have increased his value by as much as it did. If the Chicago Bulls don’t choke in the second play-in game then Vincent probably re-signs with the Miami Heat on a veteran minimum deal.
Instead, he signed a multi-year deal with the Lakers that the team might already be looking to get out of when February rolls around. Thankfully for the Lakers, Vincent’s salary is not the biggest to offset and every other team in the league also saw what he did in the playoffs, so they too may try to bring him in.
Vincent’s contract is also the perfect size to combine with other deals if the Lakers wanted to go after a star. Even if the Lakers are not outright shopping Vincent, they may have to include him in a deal simply to make the money work if they are bringing back a big-name player.
Regardless, it is already clear less than two weeks into the season that Vincent may not last an entire season with the Lakers. That seemed impossible a month ago.