Los Angeles Lakers are now chalking out plans for the next season in the 2023-24 NBA training camp. What is the perfect starting lineup and the reserve bench will look like? They have quality players on their roster. Hence, they certainly look like a favorite for the next year’s championship.
This time, the Lakers bought more quality players like Cam Reddish, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, and so on. Vincent comes from the last season’s runners-up team, Miami Heat. He is more like a Dennis Schroder-type player. He might not be as useful in the defense as he will be in the offense. In the current NBA training camp, the Lakers might see two players fight for the same position, and they are D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent.
Gabe Vincent Or D’Angelo Russell – Who’ll Get His Chance In The Starting Lineup?
Currently, these point guards will fight for the position in the starting lineup. The Lakers traded Dennis Schroder to Toronto Raptors. Hence, they have to decide between Russell and Vincent. However, the odds are against Gabe Vincent to be in the starting lineup initially. But if Russell does not live up to expectations, they might give Gabe Vincent a chance to be in the starting lineup. The Los Angeles Lakers signed Gabe Vincent for a three-year contract worth $33 million. This deal proves that the Lakers have faith in Vincent to be a worthy starting lineup caliber.
The Heat, too, showed faith in Vincent last season during the playoffs. Gabe Vincent started every game playing for 30.5 minutes per game. He had an average of 12.7 ppg, 3.5 apg, 0.9 steals, and so on. But in the playoffs, D’Angelo Russell disappointed the fans. He was not able to shoot as well as he did in the regular season. However, Rui Hachimura played even better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. Hence, in the offseason, the Laker’s front office was even more eager to retain Hachimura than Russell. Later, the Lakers retained both players who joined right before the February trade deadline.
Lakers Must Maintain Balance On Their Roster
The Lakers have a balance in their roster that was not there in the previous season’s first half. They suffered for that as they barely managed to hold on to a winning streak. However, it changed after the front office made some quality trades before the deadline in February. D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and so on, players came along and brought balance and stability to the roster. From there on, the Lakers changed and shocked every fan as not only they made the postseason but also reached the Western Conference Finals.
The new players like Russell and Hachimura caught the limelight in the regular season. But the player who became a fan favorite and the third most essential player in the Lakers team has been Austin Reaves. He was a restricted free agent in the current offseason. The Lakers Nation worried that the Alex Caruso case might repeat again. But the Front Office did not repeat the same mistake. As they did retain Reaves for a four-year contract worth $56 million.