The Gabe Vincent experience was an endless source of frustration for Los Angeles Lakers fans toward the end of his time with the team. The veteran guard always had a spot in the rotation, and it never felt like he did enough with it. That has not bee the case with the man who replaced him.
Rob Pelinka used the lone second-round pick at his disposal to swap Vincent's expiring contract for that of Luke Kennard. The new Lakers sharpshooter wasted very little time becoming a fan favorite in Los Angeles. It did not take much. All Kennard did to secure that status was reliably produce off the bench.
Vincent averaged 19.3 minutes per game in his 29 outings with the Lakers this season. The former Lakers guard scored 4.8 points per game at a clip of 34.6 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc. The solid but unspectacular defense and playmaking did not make up for that.
Meanwhile, through 10 games with the Lakers, Kennard has averaged 10.2 points in a comparable 22.4 minutes per game. The veteran marksman has done that on shooting splits of 61-48-91. That kind of blistering efficiency is not built to last. However, Kennard's prominent role off the bench certainly is.
Luke Kennard has done exactly what Gabe Vincent couldn't for the Lakers
With Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and even Marcus Smart, the Lakers have more than enough options to play on the ball. When Vincent was in Los Angeles, he was a point guard in name and title alone this season.
Offensively, the Lakers mostly wanted their old guard to simply space the floor and be around the perimeter as an outlet option for the playmaking of their better players. Vincent was a passable 3-point shooter, but his inconsistency and volatility was far too much to truly be impactful.
Kennard should be taking more than 2.9 attempts per game from deep. However, not only has the Lakers bench wing found a way to score in other ways, but he still makes an impact even when the long balls are not being put up at all. Doncic's improved 3-point rate alongside him shows that clearly.
The spacing and threat of Kennard alone is tremendously more valuable to the offensive end than what Vincent had to offer in terms of on-court production in his final moments with the Lakers. By all accounts, Gabe was said to be a tremendous professional off the court. Unfortunately for all parties, that was just not enough to be cutting it on all fronts of what Los Angeles truly needed.