Gabe Vincent is still looking for the right landing spot, and for now he’s holding off on the New York Knicks.
Marc Stein reported that the former Lakers guard had a path to sign with the defending champions, but chose not to take it while he waited for something more certain. As Stein put it, “The Stein Line has learned that former Heat, Lakers and Hawks guard Gabe Vincent could have signed with the Knicks as well to join the wing battle but elected to wait for a more sure-fire opportunity.”
That call makes sense when you look at the situation in New York. Vincent worked out with the Knicks before training camp, but the team then brought in Bruce Brown, Ochai Agbaji, John Konchar, James Wiseman, and Drew Eubanks on training camp deals. Brown, Agbaji, and Konchar are in the mix for wing minutes, while Wiseman and Eubanks are competing in the frontcourt.
The roster math adds another layer. The Knicks technically have two open spots, but they are about $3.2 million below the second salary apron and, unless something else changes, they’re expected to have the flexibility to turn only one of those training camp contracts into a standard deal. Salary cap expert Bobby Marks has said New York would likely have to trim salary through a trade to add both the 14th and 15th players.
So even if Vincent had jumped into the mix, there still wouldn’t be much security waiting for him. And at 30, with training camp approaching and no contract in hand, he’s apparently choosing to wait for a better shot at actual minutes.
Vincent’s career has already shown why that matters. He signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Lakers in 2023 after helping the Miami Heat reach the NBA Finals, with Los Angeles expecting a defense-first guard who could hit timely shots in the postseason.
Instead, injuries knocked him off track. Knee issues limited him to 11 regular-season games in his first year with the Lakers, and he never fully regained the impact he had in Miami during that 2023 run.
The Lakers eventually moved on, trading Vincent and a future second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks in February for Luke Kennard.
Last season, Vincent played 53 games between the Lakers and Hawks and averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 rebounds while shooting 34.1% from three-point range. For his career, he has averages of 6.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 331 games.
Those numbers don’t put him in a position to command a major payday, but they do explain the approach. Vincent seems more interested in finding a path to a real role than taking the first training camp invitation available.
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Barretts connection to the Knicks has not faded just because he is wearing a different uniform now. He still has friends on the roster and has kept in touch with them since the title run, which makes his reaction feel less like sour grapes and more like the natural push and pull that comes with seeing an old team reach the top without you. [Read more 🡒]