The Lakers fell for the Miami Heat Trap Twice, A Major Reason the Team has Crumbled

The Los Angeles Lakers had a great offseason with Gabe Vincent being the biggest signing of the team, but at least, that's what most people in the NBA world thought. 36 games in the season and the team isn't doing how it was expected with Gabe Vincent being out most of the season due to a knee injury.

The Lakers signed for the 2021-22 season Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn but sat out the campaign due to an injury. For 2022-23 he was back but became a complete letdown and was traded for Rui Hachimura to the Washington Wizards.

The Lakers have fallen for the Miami Heat trap twice, as Eric Pincus wrote “There's a truism in the NBA scouting world: Don't sign Heat role players.

If Miami is letting them go, it's for a reason—and they tend to over-perform for coach Erik Spoelstra.” To put it more bluntly, the Lakers were Nunn'd. (That's based on a similar move two years ago when the team signed Kendrick Nunn away from the Heat, only to lose him immediately to a knee injury.)

One of the big reasons LA hasn't done well is injuries, but also because they are missing a player like Dennis Schröder, the guard who brought a different kind of energy, especially to close games which has been needed for the team.

Why missing Vincent has affected the team

The loss of Vincent has left Los Angeles with few playmakers (Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and James), and with only Davis (3.4) averaging over 3.0 assists per game.