Lakers’ Major Offseason Signing Could Be Bad News for $33 Million Guard

A major new offseason Los Angeles Lakers signing could spell trouble for the future of a pricey rostered guard.

L.A. team president and general manager Rob Pelinka made a series of moves this summer.

The most notable departure was the free agent exit of 3-and-D swingman Dorian Finney-Smith, a longtime friend to new Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic who ditched L.A. for a four-year deal with the Houston Rockets. The length of the contract, more than the sticker amount, seemed to be the divisive issue for Pelinka and Los Angeles.

The Lakers' Big Free Agent Swings

Los Angeles' decision to sign former Defensive Player of the Year guard Marcus Smart to a two-season, $10.5 million contract could prove costly to an incumbent defense-first guard in the club's hierarchy: Gabe Vincent.

The most notable addition, however, was free agent center Deandre Ayton. The No. 1 pick in Doncic's draft (oops), Ayton was unceremoniously bought out of the remaining final year of his maximum deal by his last team, the Portland Trail Blazers.

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The 7-footer out of the University of Arizona agreed to a two-season, $16.2 million deal with L.A., which includes a player option for 2026-27. When healthy, he's still pretty effective, although he has fallen off considerably from his Phoenix Suns-era prime, especially on defense. That's a bit concerning, since he's all of 27. Ayton has also struggled with healthy issues, having missed an average of 34.5 games across his two seasons in Portland.

Pelinka re-signed former starting center Jaxson Hayes, who was always more of a stopgap option after the club flipped Anthony Davis (plus draft equity and wing Max Christie) for Doncic.

Los Angeles also signed free agent former Memphis Grizzlies stretch four Jake LaRavia to a two-season, $12 million deal. To an extent, LaRavia could soak up some of Finney-Smith's minutes, as could forward Jarred Vanderbilt.

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But the clear and present danger to Vincent is Smart, at least on paper. Smart at his Boston Celtics peak was a ruthless perimeter defender, but his effort on that end has yielded some lingering injury issues, and he has worn down a bit across his past two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.

Vincent has also been dogged by health concerns over the past two years, ultimately sitting out all but 11 games during the Lakers' 2023-24 season. By the 2025 playoffs, head coach JJ Redick had relegated him to a deep-bench role. Now, the 29-year-old out of the University of California at Santa Barbara is finds himself on an expiring $11.5 million deal this season, and could become trade fodder at some point this year.

Smart has a major opportunity to make Vincent expendable. Time will tell if he's healthy enough to take it.

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