THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Caution: Don't bail on the Zags just yet

Ouch!

Gonzaga hasn’t played a game yet, but has already suffered two losses.

Powerful post player Kaden Perry announced during the summer that an ongoing series of back issues had forced him out of the program.

Then.

This week brought a shocker.

Steele Venters, the sharpshooting transfer from Eastern Washington who figured to succeed Julian Strawther as the Zags’ starting wing, may be out for the season.

The school hasn’t issued anything official yet, but there are multiple reports floating around that suggest Venters suffered a serious knee injury in practice.

It might be coincidence, but Venters did not look particularly comfortable while playing 18 minutes (and shooting 1-for-4) in last week’s exhibition against Lewis-Clark State.

The 6-7 Venters was the Big Sky player of the year last season, and shot over 40 percent on 3-pointers.

Gonzaga’s offense will once again feature a dynamic point guard (Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard) and a slick scorer in the post (Graham Ike, who averaged 20 points per game at Wyoming).

That offensive action, along with one of the nation’s fastest tempos, sets up plenty of opportunities for a catch-and-shoot wing — as it did for Corey Kispert on the 2021 Final Four team, and most recently for Strawther.

THE ZAGS no doubt will need to do some shuffling ahead of a brutal early-season schedule — which starts tonight at The Kennel against Ivy League favorite Yale.

After the opener, Gonzaga plays Eastern Oregon before facing some of the country’s best teams in the Maui Invitational.

The Zags open that tournament against preseason No. 3 Purdue.

No. 1 Kansas is on the other side of the bracket, which is loaded with ranked teams (Tennessee, Marquette, etc.).

Mark Few and his staff now will have to figure out who will take that wing spot that Venters had locked up — and it’s certain that it will be someone who has never regularly played the position for Gonzaga.

The most likely candidate, at least to start the season, would be freshman Dusty Stromer, a 6-6 shooter who played against rugged competition at Notre Dame High in the Los Angeles suburbs.

The bright lights aren’t going to bother Stromer, but he’ll be thrown into the deep end playing defense against those teams at the Maui shootout.

Few has been easing Korean international Jun Seok Yeo into work at that wing (small forward) position, so

Jun probably moves up a spot on the depth chart.

Returnees Anton Watson and Ben Gregg have spent a bit of time on the wing (depending on how the Zags are defending).

The wild card is 6-10 redshirt freshman Braden Huff, who was the Illinois prep player of the year two years ago — then spent last season banging around with Drew Timme in practice.

“He was the most annoying redshirt I ever played against,” Timme said.

Huff is a smooth left-handed shooter from any distance, and he looked like a good inside scorer during the Kraziness in the Kennel scrimmage (where he was the leading scorer with 19 points) and again in the exhibition.

GONZAGA was ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP poll, but that number is almost certain to drop with the loss of Venters — and what might be a rough coming-out party against the who’s who of college hoops in the Maui tournament.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had to replace so many key guys,” Few said, “and obviously, there’s almost no way to replace Drew.

“We’ll put these guys together and see what we’ve got.”

Although he couldn’t have been happy to lose Venters, you get the sense that Few doesn’t mind a season in which the Zags are not considered major players on the national stage.

They’re not even picked to win the WCC.

The conference coaches gave that honor to Saint Mary’s, which returns its four top scorers.

The Zags are believed to be too young and too new to the program.

Some of these players could turn out to offer surprises, though — guys like Jun, Stromer, Luka Krajnovic and Huff, in addition to quality transfers Nembhard and Ike.

Watson, Gregg and Nolan Hickman know the system and still have plenty to offer.

One thing I’m betting on with this season’s Zags is that they’ll be deadly shooters — even without Venters.

Defense and rebounding?

They’ll have to learn as they go.

But it’s hard to imagine a Gonzaga team that can be rumbled all that easily.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”