If there is one thing Los Angeles Lakers fans were not sure they would see this season–despite repeated calls for it among the team’s faithful–it was the addition of Jarred Vanderbilt to the team’s rotation. For the past four months, the only time Vanderbilt was really discussed by the team was in trade talks with other teams, and those tended to end in frustration. With two years and $26 million on his contract, there was never much appetite around the NBA to trade for Vanderbilt, who is offensively challenged and who also happened to open the season deep in coach JJ Redick’s doghouse.
But Vanderbilt is, at least, a capable and switchable defensive player, able to guard three positions. He is not a natural center, though he has enough size and strength to handle minutes at the position–certainly better with those minutes than the Lakers’ putative backup center, Kevon Looney. Despite whatever objections Redick has to playing Vanderbilt, he finally relented last week and has been using him in stretches off the bench behind Walker Kessler. Vanderbilt has played almost 38 minutes in the past two games.
Will Lakers Stick With Jarred Vanderbilt?
It’s fair to wonder how long the Lakers will keep giving minutes to Vanderbilt. They’ve been rumored to be seeking backup big man help, but with few assets available in a trade, it’s likely that what we see on the Lakers roster is what we’re going to get, at least until the February trade deadline.
But Vanderbilt has made it clear that he has some positives to offer this team.
He explained last week: “Just the rebounding aspect, the physicality aspect. Whether that’s boxing out, securing rebounds, finishing possessions. Obviously on the offensive glass, too. Just putting pressure on the rim and offensive glass, two areas I feel like I could contribute to.”
For a Lakers team that sometimes lacks the elbow-throwing toughness a team often needs, Vanderbilt added that he can bring an edge to the group.
“Even when I get out there, obviously just flying around and causing chaos, crashing the boards and kind of propelled [Quentin Grimes] and Collin [Sexton to] start picking up full court,” Vanderbilt said. “Jake [LaRavia] started crashing. It’s contagious when everybody’s boxing out. You don’t want to be the one guy that’s not boxing out and your man gets the rebound. So it kind of puts that pressure on everybody to just lock in, box out and do all the dirty work that’s required.”
Lakers’ Little-Used Big Man Seeking ‘Physicality’