The Lakers signed Gabe Vincent last summer to replace Dennis Schroder in the lineup and bring to Los Angeles some of what he did in the postseason for Miami when he was the starter on a Finals team.
It hasn’t worked out like that. He missed 23 games with knee soreness and swelling, came back last week to play 13 minutes against the Bulls, then the swelling and soreness returned. That has led Vincent to have knee surgery, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. This was described as a “clean up” to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Vincent will be out 6-8 weeks, making his return likely just before or around the All-Star break in February.
The knee issue has hampered Vincent in the five games he did play for the Lakers this season, averaging 5.4 points and three assists a game while shooting 11.8% from 3.
The Lakers have struggled at the point this season and not having Vincent is part of that. For the past few games coach Darvin Ham has started the game without a point guard, moving D’Angelo Russell to the bench and having LeBron James as the defacto point guard with Anthony Davis, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish. That lineup hasn’t looked great and the Lakers are scrambling to find rotations that do work.