The Los Angeles Lakers headed into free agency this summer with a ton of flexibility in how they would want to build their roster out. The Lakers were able to free up enough space below the luxury tax to have the ability to use their non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
With that mid-level exception, the Lakers shocked seemingly everyone by signing Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent. Once the initial shock of the signing passed by, I became a big fan of the signing.
One of my favorite things about the Heat culture/system is how you are required to be a high basketball IQ player that can pass, dribble, shoot and arguably most important for their system, defend. Those players are tougher to get schemed out of playoff series’.
Gabe Vincent Offense
Admittedly a good portion of Vincent’s offensive impact is tied to his ability to knock down perimeter jumpers. Last season, Vincent shot roughly 34% on catch-and-shoot looks from three and 33.1% on pull-up 3-point attempts. However, if you look at Vincent’s playoff data, much like the rest of the Heat, his numbers regressed to the mean where he shot 42.9% on catch-and-shoot threes and 37.8% on threes in general. One of the more exciting things to look at from Vincent’s playoff data is how effective the Heat’s halfcourt offense was when a possession included a Vincent ball-screen.
In the playoffs, the Heat offense scored at a 1.056 PPP (points per possession) on Vincent ball screens, including pass-outs, which would rank in the 65th percentile of all players who played in the playoffs and 13th out of 40 players eligible that had at least five ball-screen possessions per game.
The Heat go to their “21” offensive series, where Vincent pitches the ball up the floor to Max Strus before going to a side ball screen with Bam Adebayo. Vincent makes the correct read, noticing that Aaron Gordon is the low man tagging on the Adebayo roll towards the basket; Vincent correctly makes a skip pass to Jimmy Butler in the corner before finding Kevin Love for the wide-open three.
Once again, Vincent just makes the proper read, Strus looks to set a guard-guard screen before popping out corner. The Nuggets blitz the ball screen, and Vincent stays poised and makes the appropriate pass to Strus in the corner for the easy three
Very similar concept to the previous play, except this time Caleb Martin sets the screen with Strus being used as a floor spacer. By the way, this is just an excellent play design/scheme by the Heat on this play. Having the first screener in Martin being a shooter that limits how much Michael Porter Jr. can help on the roll. Since Nikola Jokic isn’t the most efficient lateral mover, that forces Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to tag on the Adebayo roll towards the rim, but unfortunately for the Nuggets, that leaves one of the best shooters in the NBA wide open. Great read by Vincent. Strus just couldn’t knock down the open look.
Shooting
I believe Vincent isn’t truthfully a 33% 3-point shooter. I think pairing him in a system next to guys like LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis will do wonders for the quality of looks Vincent will get. One thing that I do like is that Vincent will make the opposing defense pay for going under screens with his shooting. Miscommunication of the Butler/Vincent screen from the Boston Celtics defense leads to a wide-open Vicent three and he is able to knock down the rhythm jumper.
I do believe there is also legitimate movement shooting upside from Vincent as well. During the last two years for the Heat (regular season + playoffs), Vincent shot 36.5% on off-screen 3-point attempts. Very limited sample size as the Heat didn’t need him to do that a ton as they already had Strus, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro, but I believe he can do it. A very simple concept out of the Heat’s motion offense, Butler has the ball on the opposite wing while Vincent receives a stagger screen and in rhythm is able to come off and knock down the shot.
Finishing
If there was one glaring hole in Gabe Vincent’s offensive game, it’s his ability to finish at the rim, especially through contact. Vincent only finished at the rim at a 50.4% clip with only a 1.01 PPP, which would rank him in the 12th percentile. His lack of explosiveness really hinders his ability to finish above the rim or through traffic. Against bigger and stronger defenders he can get bumped off his spot while driving, which at times can stall out possessions. This clip against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals is a perfect example of that. Marcus Smart is playing in the gap off Butler to help the drive from Vincent.
Vincent tries to initiate some contact to create separation from JaylenBrown but isn’t able to and it leads to a heavily contested/off-balanced shot at the rim.
This time we see how Vincent’s lack of burst hinders his ability to finish above even a guy like Jokic. I love the two-man game between Vincent and Adebayon but since the former isn’t very explosive and he isn’t able to play above the rim, that limits his ability to make contested layups consistently in the NBA.
Defense
The final topic for discussion is Vincent’s defense. While I think you can definitely argue that he’s a “downgrade” from Dennis Schroder on this side of the ball, he definitely isn’t a slouch. Vincent has had to play in one of the most complex defensive coverages in the NBA under coach Erik Spoelstra in Miami and I think someone with his skillset and versatility can be vital for this Lakers roster.
Vincent is a good POA (point of attack) defender with pretty solid screen navigator and plays with decent physicality defensively that allows him to be very switchable, even onto bigs, which is something we saw in the NBA Finals. Vincent does a good job navigating the initial Jamal Murray ball screen and when Jokic and Murray initiate their patented two-man game, Vincent does an adequate job fighting through the screen and does an even better job in recovery. When Murray tries to isolate Vincent, Gabe does a great job of showing his chest and hands and forcing the tough contested fadeaway jumper.
Going back to last season during the Eastern Conference Finals for the final clip, and this might be one of my favorite Gabe Vincent possessions. He decides to pick up Derrick White the full length of the floor before White gets a ball screen. Vincent does a solid job navigating the screens, which means White now has a downhill attack towards the basket.
Vincent is able to flip his hips to get back in front of White and is able to meet him at the low block with active hands, showing his chest and a phenomenal textbook wall-up, which leads to the poorly missed layup.
In conclusion, I think the Lakers got Vincent at great value, and I think he is going to come in and be one of the better backup point guards in the NBA. I love the fit of Vincent next to the rest of the Lakers stars and I can’t wait to see him in a purple and gold uniform!