How Gabe Vincent could be a better fit than Dennis Schroder for the Lakers
When the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with guard Gabe Vincent, plenty of fans were intrigued, but some questioned the fit.
Vincent, as the latter group saw it, was no better than Dennis Schroder, the man he will be replacing on the roster. In fact, some felt Vincent may have been a slight downgrade, given Schroder’s speed and quickness in the open court, not to mention the chemistry he built with the team this past season.
However, Vincent could prove to be a better fit for the Lakers than Schroder, even if he isn’t a better player overall, and for role players, fit is often more important than being a better overall player.
Vincent is better in catch-and-shoot situations
If one looks at Vincent’s shooting percentages from 3-point range, one may conclude that he isn’t reliable from that distance. He hit 37.8 percent from that distance during the 2023 NBA Playoffs, but he was at only 33.4 percent during the regular season.
However, with the Lakers, Vincent will be called upon to knock down triples in catch-and-shoot situations off passes from LeBron James, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, and the advanced stats show he’s clearly better in that area than Schroder.
This past regular season, he hit 34.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot treys, which was nearly identical to Schroder’s 35.1 percent mark. But in the playoffs, Vincent was at 44.6 percent in that category, while Schroder made only 32.4 percent of such attempts.
During the 2021-22 regular season, Vincent made 38.6 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts, compared to only 34.1 percent for Schroder.
The key for the University of California, Santa Barbara product is to consistently shoot at least 36 percent from downtown for all of this coming season. If he does so, he should earn plenty of playing time.
Vincent on defense
Like Schroder, Vincent can pressure opposing guards full-court. But while the former weighs just over 170 pounds, Vincent is at about 195 pounds and is an inch taller, which gives him an advantage on the defensive end.
He fights through screens on pick-and-roll coverage, which can come in handy versus Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets. Vincent may also be able to hold his own when he switches onto bigger guards, something Schroder struggles with.
Teams tend to hunt Schroder on the defensive end because of his slight frame, and while he is an effective defender on small guards, he isn’t nearly as effective on guards that have some size.
