When the Lakers went into their final game of the preseason against the Sacramento Kings with nearly their entire roster available — minus LeBron James, obviously — it was largely believed this would be a dress rehearsal for their season opener that would come only four days later. Head coach JJ Redick intimated as much in a previous media availability and had similarly hinted that the starting lineup he deployed against the Kings would double as his opening five against the Warriors.
So, when the
lineup was revealed roughly 20 minutes before the opening tip and Gabe Vincent was the fifth starter flanking Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Deandre Ayton, I’d be lying if I said I was not a bit deflated.
Gabe had played well in the Lakers exhibition games, no doubt. Just a game earlier, he’d been white hot with an 18-point eruption in the team’s opening four minutes against the Mavericks. And while that was an outlier in terms of its explosiveness and raw production, he’d shot the ball well and looked as physically healthy as he has in a Lakers uniform in his other appearances too.
After a couple of seasons where injuries and a mostly off-ball role clearly impacted his production, it looked like the Lakers had finally gotten the player they believed they were signing from the Heat.
If looking at who was playing well enough to start, then Vincent would have been at the top of pretty much any list. It’s just that, when looking at the rest of the starting group and what they needed most in support of their games, slotting in Gabe seemed like a stretch that was seemingly slotting him back into the sort of “low-usage on offense, big ask on defense” role that he could struggle to fill.
If there was a team to start Vincent against, however, it would seemingly be the Warriors. The historically small-ball oriented Warriors would have a natural defensive matchup for him with either Brandin Podziemski (preferred) or Stephen Curry (less ideal, but still okay) and Gabe’s spacing, shooting and movement know-how could give Luka and Austin a bit more room to operate against the ball-pressure heavy Warriors.
What ended up happening, though, was not that great.
The Lakers ended up doing a fair amount of switching along the perimeter, which allowed the Warriors to pick out matchups they would try to exploit. While some of that targeting centered on going at Luka with Steph Curry and Austin with Jimmy Butler and Jonathan Kuminga, Gabe also found himself in the center of the bullseye multiple times.
In fact, after halftime and with some time to make some adjustments, the Warriors looked to take advantage of Vincent by going at him in the post with his former Heat teammate, Butler. Jimmy went to the post on multiple possessions against Gabe in that period and scored several baskets in the middle of what was a huge run that turned a one-point Lakers deficit at the half into a 17-point bludgeoning in just six minutes.
Not all of that was on Gabe, of course. That starting unit as a group was not as organized as it could have been on both sides of the ball, and their general readiness was not there. But it is also true that Gabe’s inability to stick with Butler and, in general, his lack of size and athleticism against a Warriors team that while, not big, was playing physical and fast did play a key part in Golden State’s run.
And while I don’t want to pick on Gabe (Jimmy did that enough!), it’s worth hammering the point home:
Considering the Warriors are one of the better test cases for Gabe’s viability as a starter, I’d hope this was just a one-game attempt at matching up rather than a full-time choice. And, to Redick’s credit, he’s implied that he’s willing to change his starting group and not rolling out the same lineup night after night, particularly with LeBron out.
“It is unclear what the starting lineup is going to be, that’s the reality until (LeBron) is back,” Redick said after a practice before the team’s preseason finale. And then, after the Kings game, he added that he had a “pretty good idea who was going to start (against the Warriors)” and after that, he “had no idea”. Then, after highlighting some of the positives Gabe brings with the starting group, Redick said “we have to take a look at every matchup we play against, and make a decision” about who would start.
Well, now that the Warriors game is over, and with the Timberwolves and their massive starting lineup that has swapped out Mike Conley in favor of Donte DiVincenzo next to Anthony Edwards in the backcourt, I’d argue that this is the exact sort of matchup that requires something different.
Sure, it’s arguable that Gabe could defend DiVincenzo, but that would slide Austin or Luka into a less desirable matchup of marking Edwards, a task better left to one of the Lakers better wing defenders in Marcus Smart or Jarred Vanderbilt. And while there are offensive challenges that could come from starting one of them — particularly Vando — sliding one of them next to the Lakers four remaining best offensive players is the best way to mitigate that.
If I had my druthers, I’d probably start Vanderbilt, whose on-ball defensive tenacity combined with his ability to rebound on both ends serves as a need in the starting group, particularly against Minnesota’s big front line and next to Hachimura, who is not a strong rebounder as a power forward. Again, I’d happily have Smart here too, whose ball handling and better shooting could allow for more offensive functionality and not allow the Wolves to shrink the floor as much against the Lakers halfcourt offense.
Either way, though, I do not believe it should be Vincent. He’s a fine player and someone who can and will help the Lakers this season. The shooting — particularly on the move — and his penchant to be in the right place while competing hard help in tangible and intangible ways.
But, his lack of size and athleticism simply do not mesh well with Austin and Luka in the starting lineup. It leaves that group too deficient defensively, and without enough motor and strength around the perimeter to combat some of the power wings and taller offensive initiators that litter the league in today’s NBA.
It’s also the type of group that then relies too much on Ayton on the back line as both a rim protector and rebounder and simply does not account for the weaknesses Rui possesses defensively or on the backboards as well. Shooting and spacing matter, but those are not the only qualities that impact winning.
So, here’s hoping that Redick uses his own words and uses the matchups to inform his starting lineup choices. Because if he doesn’t, and Vincent is the consistent choice, the Lakers are going to run into the same challenges they did vs. the Warriors and suffer for it.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegold and find more of his Lakers coverage on the Laker Film Room Podcast.
