Gabe Vincent has a left knee effusion, which will keep him out of action for at least two weeks,
the Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday. After then, he will have another evaluation.
Vincent missed the Lakers’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday with “knee soreness”. Beforehand, Darvin Ham said the team was still in the process of assessing the injury. (Vincent was held out of the Lakers’ final three preseason games due to back soreness.)
The Lakers signed Vincent to a 3-year, $33 million contract, believing his egolessness, playoff experience, shooting, and defense checked important boxes. Vincent averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 assists over four games as the Lakers’ third guard behind D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. Despite his cold shooting, Ham has used him in crunch time on more than one occasion. His 28.3 minutes per game rank sixth on the team.
Ham will turn to Max Christie and Cam Reddish to fill the backup guard minutes. Christie — who had nine deflections in 22 minutes vs. the Clippers — can more closely replicate Vincent’s shooting and pesky defense, while Reddish offers more length and versatility on the wing.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have not yet provided an official update on Taurean Prince or Rui Hachimura. Prince was a late scratch on Wednesday due to knee soreness he experienced during pregame warmups. Hachimura is in concussion protocol.
