The basketball world is still shocked, reverberating from the Luka Doncic trade that sapped the Lakers roster of depth and role players. 

That is obviously correlated to the spread you’ll see Tuesday, where even with LeBron James expected to play, the Clippers are 8.5-point favorites at FanDuel for the 10 p.m. ET game. 

Doncic will not be appearing in the game while he recovers from an injury.

Everyone else on the Lakers, sans James, is available in a trade, and they know it. 

Lakers vs. Clippers odds

Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Gabe Vincent will get plenty of run Tuesday, as Max Christie was shipped off to Dallas alongside Anthony Davis, who admittedly wasn’t going to play in this game anyway. 

The Lakers could look to showcase some of their trade candidates ahead of Thursday’s deadline, and two of those players are guards Reaves and Vincent. 

Reaves will continue to run the offense until Doncic debuts, and I’m anticipating massive usage for him Tuesday.

He has looked excellent as the team’s table setter in recent weeks, averaging 6.6 assists per game in his last seven. 

With the team bereft of its stars, Reaves should be able to showcase his playmaking ability early and often even against a solid defensive team like the Clippers. 

Betting on the NBA?

Meanwhile, Vincent has seen his playing time steadily increase from 16.5 minutes per game in November to 22.5 in December and 24.4 in January. Imagine where his minutes total will be now that Christie is in Dallas and the Lakers are searching for production on the offensive end. 

The one caveat here is that Vincent is questionable for this matchup.

Expect the Lakers to fall in this one as they await the debut of their new franchise cornerstone player, but target two player props — provided Vincent plays — in this matchup as your bets. 

THE PLAYS: Austin Reaves Over 6.5 assists (+126, FanDuel) | * Provided he plays: Gabe Vincent Over -7.5 points (-125, FanDuel)

Why Trust New York Post Betting

Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.