The Los Angeles Lakers have started the 2024-25 season at 11-7 and have looked inconsistent during the early-goings of the regular season. A big part of the Lakers’ inconsistency has been a couple of early disappointments on the roster, particularly from the bench.
It would be easy to say that Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt have been disappointments for the Lakers, but they’re both injured and have yet to make their season debut. That itself is a disappointment since both players were expected to play major roles in the team’s rotation.
But injuries can hit out of nowhere and can be unpredictable. When that happens, other players on the roster have to step up and help offset the loss of production.
For the Lakers, they haven’t exactly got consistent production off their bench, most notably from Gabe Vincent and Max Christie.
Max Christie hasn’t taken 3rd-year leap
Coming into the 2024-25 season, Max Christie was a prime candidate for a breakout season. He showed promise during his rookie year in 2022-23 and was a top standout during 2024 NBA Summer League. But he received sporadic playing time and was largely out of the main rotation last season.
Under a new head coach in JJ Redick, Christie began the 2024-25 season as one of the Lakers’ main guards off the bench. But even during the Lakers’ strong 3-0 start to the season, he just didn’t have the impact that many Lakers’ fans hoped he would.
He struggled with his shot early on and wasn’t making much of an impact on the defensive end. When Cam Reddish was ready to make his season debut, Redick moved him into the starting lineup in place of D’Angelo Russell and Christie was squeezed out of the rotation.
Christie’s play has picked up in recent games though, showing flashes of the player the team expected him to be coming into the season. During the Lakers’ win against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, Christie tied a season-high of 12 points while shooting 4-of-6 from the field.
The Lakers’ obviously believe in him, having re-signed him to a four-year, $32 million contract in the offseason. But he’s going to need to pick it up and show more consistency for the rest of the season. Through 17 games, he’s averaging only 4.9 points and shooting 30 percent from three-point range.
Gabe Vincent’s disappointing Lakers’ tenure
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In addition to Christie, Gabe Vincent has been part of the Lakers’ inconsistency off the bench. He was originally signed to a three-year, $33 million contract as a free agent in the 2023 offseason.
Vincent was coming off a career-year as the starting point guard for the Miami Heat during the NBA Finals run. During the 2023 playoffs, Vincent averaged 12.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range.
He hasn’t played anywhere close to that level during his time with the Lakers so far. To be fair, his first season was injury riddled and he wasn’t able to get into a consistent rhythm once he returned late in the year.
But this season, he hasn’t been able to make a consistent mark off the Lakers’ bench. He’s earned Redick’s trust due to his ability to make an impact without it always appearing on the stat sheet. But at some point, his lack of overall production isn’t going to cut it.
Through his first 18 games, he’s averaging 2.8 points while shooting 30.3 percent from the field and 20.9 percent from three-point range. In perhaps a sign of Redick’s fluid rotations, Vincent played only a little over five minutes during the Lakers’ win against the Spurs. It’s still possible that Vincent can be a key contributor throughout the season, but that production is going to need to increase.
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