The Los Angeles Lakers, for their Wednesday night preseason tilt against the Dallas Mavericks at T-Mobile Arena, were without key contributors such as Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Deandre Ayton, just to name a few. LeBron James also remains out as he continues to deal with sciatica. But the Lakers need not worry, for they have Gabe Vincent — someone who always seems to step up whenever the team he's on is undermanned (or undertalented).
Vincent took on the number one option role with aplomb on Wednesday night, as he started off proceedings waxing hot from the field. Through the first five minutes of the game, he was already up to 18 points, making five of six three-point attempts and nailing all three of his shots from the charity stripe.
This scoring outburst drew a huge reaction from James, with the Lakers star expressing his amazement over Vincent's hot shooting on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
“GV going crazy right now!!! Sheesh 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥,” James wrote.
The most bonkers part about Vincent's scoring outburst was that he wasn't just making wide-open shots. He was pulling up from around two steps behind the three-point arc, and he was doing so even with Cooper Flagg draped all over him.
GABE VINCENT IS ON FIRE 🔥
He starts 5-5 from outside & has 18 PTS in just 5 minutes on ESPN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YmbrFQkqco
— NBA (@NBA) October 16, 2025
This was the version of Vincent that the Lakers envisioned they would get when they signed him in 2023. Vincent did endure plenty of struggles in his first year in LA and was injured for a good portion of that campaign, with his stock being at a huge low following the '23-'24 campaign.
But Vincent emerged as a reliable three-and-D piece for the Lakers last season, and it looks like he'll continue to thrive alongside LA's higher-usage stars.
Are the Lakers too guard-heavy?
The Lakers will and should make the Doncic trade ten times out of ten and twice on Sundays. But trading away Anthony Davis to get Doncic made their roster incredibly imbalanced, and at this point, it looks like the Lakers' roster is still guard-heavy especially after they lost Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency.
Doncic, Reaves, and James are all incredible ball-handlers and shot-creators in their own right. They then added Marcus Smart, another playmaker, even though they already had Vincent, a 3-and-D guard, on the roster.
The Lakers don't have much in the way of two-way wings, as they do not have much depth behind Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Another trade might be in the cards for the Purple and Gold.
