Report: Gabe Vincent ‘ramping up,’ could return next week

It’s been an odyssey, but it looks like we might finally see Gabe Vincent on the court playing for the Lakers in the very near future.

Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been on the roster all year! The Lakers might finally be getting Gabe Vincent back.

Shams Charania of The Athletic gave an update on FanDuel’s show ”Run It Back,” saying his window for potential return begins as early as next week.

This follows Charania’s recent reporting that Vincent was targeting a mid-to-late March return. If he returns next week, that will perfectly hit the earliest return date, and if it takes another week or two, it will still fall in the late March timeline.

Next week would be a good time for Vincent to return. The Lakers play Monday against the Atlanta Hawks but then they don't have another game until Friday versus the Philadelphia 76ers. If he returns on Monday, his minutes could be light with plenty of rest and some practice time before another game later on in the week.

Or he can just continue ramping up and get a few extra days of rest before returning, potentially on Friday, without missing many more games. Either way, he’ll have time on the practice court next week as well to help re-integrate, which will be a big help.

What Vincent can still give you is still unknown.

The Lakers are hoping he can bring his Miami Heat playoff bag to this squad. Vincent averaged 12.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 30.5 minutes per game last season for the Heat. In his five games with the Lakers this year, that bag went missing, as he managed just 5.7 points per game and shot a putrid 11.8% from 3-point land.

Implementing Vincent back into this roster and making him a positive without taking what’s working well away will be one of the biggest challenges of Darvin Ham’s season.

Cam Reddish recently experienced a similar situation and immediately took Max Chritsie’s minutes. The results were mixed and Christie started playing again after just a handful of games.

There won’t be much ramp-up time for Vincent as the Lakers will have, at most, 13 games left in the regular season. So, hopefully, when he is cleared to return, he’ll be ready to go and can give the Lakers some much-needed depth in their available guards.

If Jarred Vanderbilt can also return, this team would be close to healthy and every key rotation player would be available for the games that matter most.

It’s been a long and arduous season, but if the Lakers can rack up some more wins, climb up the Western Conference standings and be healthy for the postseason, they may just reach their full potential and be a dangerous team this spring.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.