The Lakers have every ingredient available to them for a recipe to a disastrous offseason. After a summer of market inactivity and over-activity on the internet around the acquisition of Bronny James, the fans now have more concerns to be vexed at the LA front office. This comes courtesy of a supposed lie from the management regarding Jarred Vanderbilt, who is still on the shelf, while the problems are still the same.
NBA Insider Trevor Lane addressed the issue. He shared what Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Bresnahan recently said about Vanderbilt’s injury update. Bresnahan was unsure whether or not the player will be ready for the upcoming training camp or the preseason games. The Insider even mentioned that there were no concrete details about his recovery.
After picking up a foot injury in the regular season, Vanderbilt didn’t get the surgery. Answering the reason behind it, Lane stated on Lakers Nation, “Because he was trying to make it back for the playoffs.” He quickly added, “But clearly something’s not right. Something is not right here if he is still not healthy. Right? There’s no way that everything is healing up the exact way that it was supposed to when his injury occurred on February 1st. We’re in the middle of September.” The host then pointed out JJ Redick’s interview with Mike Trudell was alarming where the Lakers boss mentioned that the 25-year-old needed more rehab time.
On February 1st, 2024, the LA side faced their Eastern rivals, the Boston Celtics. They managed to snatch a much-needed win but at the cost of Vanderbilt. The power forward had just started getting the time on the hardwood to show his excellence in his new team, but it halted with a bad foot injury on his 29th appearance. After that night, Vando wasn’t spotted in the regular season lineup.
However, Trevor Lane highlighted that for the Game 5 playoff, against the Nuggets, Vanderbilt was suddenly ‘available’. Yet months later, there are still questions about his fitness, which raises more eyebrows. Vando’s absence could be a major drawback to the new HC’s plans, as was the case during the last coach’s tenure.
A few days ago, in the same podcast, a possible explanation of Darvin Ham’s departure from the Lakers was disclosed. The one name that popped up as the potential reason was Jarred Vanderbilt. The Lakers suffered last season mostly because of their defense. Adding Vando to the roster solved the issue to a great extent. But as per Insider Donnie Ballard, Ham didn’t use Vando’s backcourt skills enough, which caused the major problem. And once the Texan left with the injury, it was game over for Darvin.
On the flip side, JJ Redick’s big plan seems to include Jarred Vanderbilt in the starting lineup. According to his plan, Anthony Davis would be taking a Nikola Jokic role, which would give LeBron James the space to operate at his own pace. While standing tall in the defense line would be Vando and Rui Hachimura taking turns.
Trevor Lane had dug up some statistics that put Vando near the top of the list for his pace and the distance covered. This indicates one thing that the player relies on his athleticism. “He moves quicker than most bigs do. He defends, he rebounds, he hustles. He does all those things. Those things are difficult to do when you’re not a 100%, physically,” added the Lakers Nation host.
However, with Jarred Vanderbilt’s questionable return, the plan might not work the same way for the Purple and Gold, causing major concerns even before the season began.
