Since signing a $33 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent last summer, Gabe Vincent has played just five games in his first season in Hollywood. Injuries have been a major hindrance for the 6-foot-3 guard, who is currently recovering from surgery on his left knee.
The good news for Lakers fans, however, is that Vincent appears to be closing in on his highly anticipated return to action.
Los Angeles Lakers Could Get Gabe Vincent Back Soon
NBA guru Shams Charania of The Athletic spoke about Vincent’s injury status on Tuesday and the renowned league insider was able to provide a timely update on the 27-year-old’s road to recovery. According to Shams, Vincent could return as early as next week:
“Gabe Vincent is doing more and more on the court,” Shams said on Monday’s episode of Run It Back (h/t Alex Kirschenbaum of SI). “The Lakers will know more I think next week, where Gabe Vincent stands. But barring any setbacks, his hope is still mid-to-late March to get back in the lineup for the Lakers.”
"Gabe Vincent is doing more and more on the court…Barring any setbacks, his hope is still mid to late March to get back in the lineup for the Lakers."@ShamsCharania updates on Gabe Vincent's injury.
📺: https://t.co/oxMs3CAEGu pic.twitter.com/RZpsmywEXc
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 5, 2024
Charania did not provide a concrete target date for Vincent’s potential return, but he did mention mid-March as an optimistic timeframe for the former Miami Heat stud. In case you missed it, it’s going to be mid-March next week.
Given how long Vincent has been out, however, it’s very likely that the Lakers are going to slowly bring him back into the fold. Even if he is able to return next week — which honestly, is quite doubtful — he’s probably going to be on some sort of minutes limit early on.
The most important thing right now is to get Vincent back into game shape in time for the playoffs. This also means avoiding any and all setbacks once he returns.
Filling the Void
Shams then went on to discuss Spencer Dinwiddie’s role for the Lakers after the 6-foot-5 combo guard recently signed with the squad. Charania noted that Dinwiddie has been “serving as a 3-and-D guard off that bench,” and that he has done a relatively noteworthy job in filling the void that Vincent has left in the rotation:
“They can still use another guard in the backcourt, but I will say, last night [in a blowout win against the Oklahoma City Thunder], Spencer Dinwiddie came in there,” Shams continued. “It’s clear the starting rotation, the starting lineup, there’s a lot of usage that’s going around right now, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, obviously the ball is in their hands. Spencer Dinwiddie came in last night and defensively stepped up, had that block on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had the layup in transition, had a few assists as well in that limited role.”
Be that as it may, there’s no denying that the Lakers will need to be as healthy as they possibly can for the tough stretch ahead.
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