From the beginning of the season until now, the Regular Season sprint, the Los Angeles Lakers have almost never had a full squad. Factors like Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent or Jarred Vanderbilt are still on the bench due to injury.
The bad news has just come when Christian Wood, the backup center for Anthony Davis, has just had surgery and is expected to miss “a few weeks” and will likely say goodbye to the season.
But amid the storm of injuries, good news has just appeared for the yellow and purple team. NBA expert Marc Stein said Gabe Vincent, the Lakers’ long-range defender , is “close to returning” after a long period of recovery from a knee injury.
“Vincent is gradually returning to training and will probably compete at the end of the Regular Season as well as the Playoffs if there are no further problems during the recovery process”, Marc Stein shared on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Arriving at the Los Angeles Lakers from the defending Eastern champion Miami Heat, pitcher Gabe Vincent has only played in 5 matches this season due to a left knee injury.
The Lakers initially expected Vincent to be able to replace Dennis Schroder after the German defender left. Unfortunately, Gabe’s injury meant he didn’t have a chance to show off and had to sit out.
After a period of no progress in recovery, Vincent performed arthroscopic knee surgery to completely treat the injury at the end of December 2023, expected to be sidelined for 6-8 weeks.
It’s been 11 weeks now and Gabe is still not able to train at 100%. However, reputable journalist Shams Charania said Gabe Vincent and the Lakers are aiming to return at the end of this month.
If Gabe Vincent can reappear at the end of this month, he will be a necessary “reinforcement” for the Los Angeles Lakers team that is approaching the sprint phase of the Regular Season.
The responsibility of scoring points and carrying the burden is weighing too heavily on the shoulders of LeBron James as well as Anthony Davis. Although the Lakers’ satellite players have had good matches, they have not shown stability.
It’s difficult to expect Gabe Vincent to immediately average 10-15 points/game upon returning, especially after about 5 months of recovery. But any help for the main pillars can bring positive value to the Lakers at this time.
