Rob Pelinka Provides Major Injury Update on Lakers $48 Million Forward

Getty Lakers VP Rob Pelinka watches as the Los Angeles Lakers host a press conference.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt underwent procedures on each of his feet this offseason, Rob Pelinka, the team’s vice president of basketball operations and general manager, told reporters Wednesday, September 25.

Pelinka is optimistic that Vanderbilt “will be ready to play” when the Lakers open their season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 22.

“Last year, he had a lingering sort of bone spur on the back of his foot and since he was going to go under surgery for the injury that he had last year in the Boston Celtics game, the doctor
had a discussion with him, ‘Hey since you’re going to be off your foot for several months why not get the other thing cleaned up so it doesn’t rear its head?’ So he had both things fixed,” Pelinka said.

Vanderbilt sustained his foot injury during the Lakers’ gutsy 114-105 win over the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics on the road on February 1, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis sitting out that game.

When healthy, Vanderbilt is the Lakers’ most versatile defender.

In 2023, Vanderbilt signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Lakers following his stellar role in the team’s trip to the Western Conference Finals that year. However, injuries have kept him from reprising that role last season.

The 25-year-old forward is expected to come off the bench for the Lakers when he returns as new head coach JJ Redick has announced in the “The Lowe Post” podcast Wednesday, September 25, that he will stick with the starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, James and Davis.

Pat Beverley Puts Rui Hachimua on Notice

Former Lakers guard Patrick Beverley, now playing in Israel, said Hachimura should do more for the Lakers this season.

“Rui, he a good basketball player, but he’s not the X-factor to me,” Beverley said on the “Pat Bev Pod” on September 23. “Actually, you know what, he should be the X-factor because he gets paid as the X-factor should be. So yeah, [expletive], we go put him X-factor. He needs to do more, he needs to do more.”

“He has to come in like, ‘I’m the second option.’ His mindset has to be, yeah, it’s AD here, it’s LeBron here, it’s Austin Reaves here, it’s D’Lo here, but no, AD getting it, I’m the second option. That has to be his mindset, you know? Because they do need that.”

Despite not getting the starting job right away, Hachimura finished strong, averaging a career-high 13.6 points on 53.7% field goal shooting and 42.2% from the 3-point line in his first full season with the Lakers.

Rui Hachimura’s Impact as Starter

Hachimura did not become a full-time starter for the Lakers until Vanderbilt went down with a foot injury in February.

The Lakers were 22-10, equivalent to a 56-win pace team, since former Lakers coach Darvin Ham inserted Hachimura in the starting unit on February 3.

The 6-foot-8 Japanese forward averaged 15.4 points on 57.5% field goal shooting and 44.4% from the 3-point line in 39 starts.

Hachimura did not start right away last season because of his reluctance to do the dirty work, according to a report from The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

“Over the [2023] summer, Hachimura, at the behest of the coaching staff, had visibly slimmed down to prepare for more wing minutes,” Buha wrote on March 22. “But once Hachimura arrived in training camp, he didn’t embrace the role-player duties the coaching staff wanted from him — being fully engaged defensively, boxing out hard, making the extra pass.”