NBA free agency is officially here and the flurry of new deals has some fans either ecstatic or shaking their heads.
For example, the Los Angeles Lakers were severely outbid for Bruce Brown’s services as he reportedly signed a lucrative two-year, $45 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. Brown was a highly-coveted target for the Lakers who sounded increasingly confident they could sign him, but were ultimately outbid by the Pacers.
That’s not to say Los Angeles has completely struck out, though, as they managed to sign Taurean Prince to a one-year, $4.5 million deal. That amount suggests the Lakers signed him using the bi-annual exception which hard caps them at the first tax apron of $172.3 million.
Even with Prince on board, the front office has plenty of work to fill out the rest of the roster and they took another step toward doing so as they’ve reportedly agreed to sign former Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent, via Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Free agent guard Gabe Vincent has agreed on a three-year, $33 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Vincent’s agent, Bill Neff, negotiated the new deal for a tremendous undrafted success story.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2023
The Lakers answer a huge question concerning their backcourt as D’Angelo Russell, Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV remain unrestricted free agents. Vincent is coming off an excellent season with the Miami Heat where he served as their starting point guard throughout the postseason.
Vincent is one of the best success stories in the NBA as he was formerly undrafted, but now finds himself in Los Angeles where he will presumably have a sizable role either as a starter or off the bench. His addition, though, does muddy up the waters for Russell and Schroder’s futures as they were thought to be coming back to the Lakers.
Regardless, Rob Pelinka and co. did excellent work signing a player in Vincent, who proved he could contribute to a title contender. Now, the wait is on to see who else the purple and gold manage to get in free agency.
Lakers still interested in re-signing D’Angelo Russell
Russell is a polarizing player among fans as they’ve had a hard time letting go of his woeful performance against the Denver Nuggets. However, according to Dan Woike of L.A. Times, the Lakers are still interested in re-signing him shortly after news broke of Vincent’s signing.
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