Back before the start of the NBA season, a Western Conference assistant coach was talking about the Los Angeles Lakers roster. While much of what the Lakers had were players who were with the team after last year’s trade deadline and into the team’s playoff run, the one guy who stood out was new: guard Gabe Vincent.
“To me,” the coach said, “there is your wildcard.”
Vincent agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with the Lakers this summer, taking him from the bosom of the Miami Heat—the team that developed him—to the Lakers. Vincent has experience on the big stage, of course, playing in the NBA Finals last season with the Heat last season after getting to Game 7 of the East finals the previous year.
One of the potential targets the Lakers had lined up at the trade deadline in February was Raptors guard Gary Trent, a scoring threat who can hold his own defensively.
The Raptors wound up essentially standing pat at the NBA trade deadline last year, though, and that meant Trent stayed put.
Moreover, Trent surprised many around the league by choosing to opt in on the final year and $18.6 million of the three-year, $51.8 million contract he signed in 2021, when he surely could have landed a longer deal in free agency. Also surprising about the decision: Trent is a client of Klutch Sports, the agency fronted by Rich Paul that lists LeBron James among its clients. Klutch is usually very aggressive in free agency.
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