The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly been trying to trade forward Jarred Vanderbilt for years, and after a few failed attempts, it looks like the 27-year-old will remain on the roster for the upcoming NBA season.
Vanderbilt is not expected to be a mainstay in the Lakers’ rotation this year, and though finding a trade would be the best way to get off his contract and bring in someone else who could contribute to winning, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
The forward is owed more than $25 million over the next two years, but clearly doesn’t have a trade market around the league. That could be the Lakers’ fault, though, because while they want to move him, they haven’t allowed Vanderbilt to prove his value on the court.
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Vanderbilt has been one of a few players on the trade block for the Lakers this offseason, but there doesn’t appear to be a market for the wing player. His contract is too high for what he brings to the table, and Los Angeles hasn’t given him enough playing time to show he could be an asset for another team.
But as Svyatoslav Rovenchuk wrote for LakeShowLife.com, that could be a saving grace for Vanderbilt, as his seemingly low value could keep him on the roster, whether the team or the player himself want that or not.
“Vanderbilt coming in at around $12.4 million right after that is the unfortunate set of circumstances that everyone rightfully views it as. That is a deal no franchises are jumping to take off the Lakers’ hands,” he wrote. “Rob Pelinka has tried. There were murmurings throughout the offseason of attempting to package Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht in an outgoing trade to bring back someone who could contribute for the Lakers. Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it.”
Vanderbilt played in just 17.4 minutes per game last year and averaged just 4.4 points. That’s around where his averages have been during his three and a half seasons in Los Angeles.
It’s not enough to show he could be a standout role player somewhere else, and the trend has gone long enough to prove he isn’t going to get a bigger role out of nowhere on the Lakers this year.
Lakers reporter Jovan Buha also gave a bleak outlook on where Vanderbilt stands in the rotation this season.
“From what we’ve seen, he’s almost like the fourth-string center at this point,” he said. “From an actual playing time perspective, he’s been more of the 16th man.”
The Lakers obviously won’t have a real 16th man due to the NBA’s 15-man roster limit, in which Knecht is expected to be the final roster cut. But regardless, that’s bad news for everyone involved, as it looks like the $25 million remaining on Vanderbilt’s contract is dead money for as long as he’s on the roster.
“In the meantime, the veteran forward is number 16 in Los Angeles and on his way to becoming number 15 by the will of his contract,” Rovenchuk added.
Los Angeles Has Been Trying To Move The Forward But Haven’t Had Any Luck
According to Buha, the team has reportedly been trying to trade both Vanderbilt and Knecht for months.
“The Lakers have been trying to trade both of these players going back really almost two seasons,” he said on a recent episode of his Buha’s Block show. “They’ve been shopping these guys for a while, well over a year. They were shopping them last deadline. They’ve been shopping them this offseason. They’ve not been able to offload them.”
Now, with Vanderbilt’s contract that clearly doesn’t have value around the league, he’s viewed as on the outside of the rotation, which Buha previously also stated after his most recent comments.
“When people continue to throw out Jared Vanderbilt starter, Jared Vanderbilt prominent role, I’ve pushed back that JJ just does not view Jared in that light,” he added. “There’s just a gap between how I think a lot of the fan base views Vando and how JJ views him.”
Though Los Angeles might want to get him off the roster by any means necessary, they just can’t. He’s owed too much money to be waived, and Knecht is the more likely candidate to be off the team before the season begins.
The Lakers still have a chance to package any combination of Vanderbilt, Knecht, Jaden Hardy, and one of their draft assets for a new starting power forward or backup center, but no players stand out, and no teams want any of LA’s guys back in return.
For now, Vanderbilt is stuck on a team that doesn’t want him, which means that if he isn’t traded this season, he’s going to have to get mighty comfortable on the bench this year.
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