The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten mostly healthy seasons out of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, which was the biggest concern heading into the 2023-24 season. However, while LeBron and AD have stayed healthy, the supporting cast around them has been banged up.
Outside of D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, every other substantial member of the rotation has spent some time on the shelf in some capacity. The worst two hands have been dealt to Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent. Vanderbilt has missed two big stretches of time due to injury, while Vincent has played just five total games since signing with the Lakers last summer.
Los Angeles has been forced to get creative with its rotations due to these injuries (which is something that head coach Darvin Ham is not great at). Thankfully, this creativity may not be needed for much longer, as NBA insider Shams Charania provided a promising update for both players.
"Gabe Vincent finally to the point where he's progressing to conditioning and ramping up on the floor. His window I'm told to potentially return, begins next week."@ShamsCharania updates on Gabe Vincent.
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 11, 2024
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Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt injury updates are massive for the Lakers
The Lakers are potentially getting Vincent and Vanderbilt back at the perfect time. We are getting to the point of the NBA season where the rubber truly meets the road and Los Angeles needs to start picking up wins at a consistent pace.
Getting Vincent back next week, and also getting Vanderbilt back that week or the following week, would instantly change the entire outlook of the rotation. These are two guys who can play 20-25 minutes a night and will have huge roles on the defensive side of the court.
That has been the biggest issue with the Lakers. When things are going wrong, it is often because they have too many players on the court who cannot defend. With Vincent and Vando back in the fold, the Lakers will have different options to throw into lineups to be a defensive stopper alongside Anthony Davis.
That is going to be even more imperative in the NBA Playoffs. As great as D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have been offensively, they can get hunted in the NBA Playoffs. Just having that fallback option to secure the perimeter in either Vincent or Vanderbilt is huge.
The timing of the returns is also great for the Lakers. If both guys can return in the next 10 days then that will give them three weeks to really ramp up for the playoffs. If they were to return in April, for example, then they wouldn't have a much runway to become the best versions of themselves.