3 recent moves the Lakers would like a do-over on: Gabe Vincent signing, 2023 draft miss, more
The Los Angeles Lakers got a head start on the NBA trade deadline by sending D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton on Sunday.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka isn't likely to stop there, as his 18-13 team seems to be hitting its stride after a rocky November. L.A. has won five of six to move up to a tie for the sixth spot in the West, and the addition of Finney-Smith, who instantly becomes the team's second-best defender behind Anthony Davis and one of its best three-point shooters, seems like the kind of smart, low-risk move that could help them move even further up the ladder.
Of course, we'll have to see how Finney-Smith meshes with his new teammates, which is always an inexact science to predict. Some moves look great in the moment but age like milk, and although the Lakers front office has done some good things recently, there are also a handful of moves that they'd like back. Here are three of them.
Signing Gabe Vincent to a three-year, $33 million deal
Gabe Vincent has never been a star in the league, but he was one of the hotter names on the free agent market after he seemed to break through in the playoffs with the Miami Heat in 2023. As Miami shocked the NBA by making a run all the way to the Finals, Vincent played a prominent role, and during a six-game stretch that covered part of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals, he averaged just under 19 points a game.
If the 2023 postseason was Vincent's Cinderella story, his time with the Lakers has been all about how he turned back into a pumpkin. He only played 11 games last season due to undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, so his signing could only conceivably be given an "incomplete" grade. This year though, he hasn't been an impact player in the slightest, with an average of just 4.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in just under 19 minutes per game. LeBron and Anthony Davis have that before they break a sweat.
Vincent's disappointing play makes it highly likely that he'll be included in a trade package in the coming weeks, most likely with a non-contender that would rather lose than win. Maybe the Lakers can get something of consequence back in that hypothetical deal, but it wouldn't change the fact that signing Vincent is a move that's getting filed under the "Loss" column on Pelinka's resume.
Drafting Jalen Hood-Schifino over Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Another move the Lakers would like back is drafting Jalen Hood-Schifino with the 17th overall pick in last year's draft, especially when Jaime Jaquez, who's been a good rotation player for the Heat, went just one pick later.
Hood-Schifino was deemed a project that needed time to develop after playing only one collegiate season in Indiana, which is why it never made sense for the Lakers to add him to their aging core. LeBron and AD only have so many years of contention left, and drafting an unseasoned point guard was never going to help them right away.
Keep in mind that the Cavs traded away No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins way back in 2014 so that LeBron could get a championship-quality running mate in Kevin Love, and that's when some people thought Wiggins was going to be the next big thing. Nine years later, the Lakers passed on Jaquez, a four-year starter at UCLA who had helped the Bruins reach their first Final Four in 13 years. Jaquez and LeBron are old basketball souls who would have melded beautifully on the court together, and it's not like the Lakers had to travel far to scout him.
Predictably, Hood-Schifino has spent more time in the G League than the NBA. He played in 21 games last year in the big leagues and only two thus far this year.
The only positive about missing out on Jaquez is that Pelinka didn't make the same mistake twice, as he took the pro-ready Dalton Knecht this past summer when the Lakers had the 17th pick again.
Letting Taurean Prince get away in free agency
It's tough to blame Pelinka for letting Taurean Prince walk in free agency, because who could have predicted that a player who had never shot over 40 percent from three before would suddenly be third in the NBA with a 46.4 clip from deep?
Still, this one hurts, especially seeing as how Prince has been a key role player for a Bucks team that has engineered a massive turnaround of what was beginning to look like a lost season, and the Lakers have been in desperate need of more outside shooting. Milwaukee has been one of the hottest teams in the league, and Giannis and company just took over L.A.'s title of reigning NBA Cup champs.
Maybe Prince just needed one more year with Darvin Ham, who went from being his head coach in L.A. to an assistant in Milwaukee, to unlock his true shooting form. You have to think that former sharpshooter JJ Redick could have helped him achieve his ceiling though, and for the one-year, $3 million contract Prince inked this summer, it wouldn't have cost much to find out.
The move to acquire Finney-Smith seems like Pelinka's way of trying to right the wrong of letting Prince go, as both players are good shooters, tenacious defenders and quality locker room guys. We'll see if this move helps Lakers fans forget the ones that need forgetting.