Jarred Vanderbilt projects to be a critical piece for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-25 season because of the roster’s lack of perimeter foot speed and front court depth.

Vanderbilt’s offense leaves much to be desired, but his energy, effort and versatility on the defensive end makes him a critical piece for a Lakers team that will need him to guard opposing teams’ best perimeter threat. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt hasn’t been able to suit up for practice or preseason games due to recovery from surgeries on both his feet.

The forward only appeared in 29 games last season due to heel and foot injuries, making these current ailments a bit concerning. There haven’t been many updates regarding Vanderbilt’s rehab progress, but typically no news is good news when it comes to injuries

Prior to their preseason game against the Phoenix Suns, head coach JJ Redick said that Vanderbilt’s been progressing in his rehab but will unfortunately miss the beginning of the 2024-25 season, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

While it’s good to hear that Vanderbilt hasn’t suffered any setbacks, it’s disappointing that he won’t be able to suit up for Opening Night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, this is still roughly in line with their original timeline for him to return toward the beginning of the season.

Without Vanderbilt, Redick has experimented with smaller lineups that features players like Max Christie at the small forward position while LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain the nominal power forward and center, respectively. However, Redick has also tried two-big lineups with Jaxson Hayes and Davis so when Vanderbilt returns he could be put in a similar spot.

Until Vanderbilt is ready to return to the floor, Redick will need to find ways to put together lineups that can feasibly defend and get stops. Hopefully Vanderbilt can return sooner than later because the early defensive returns from preseason haven’t been too encouraging for the Lakers.

JJ Redick says Jarred Vanderbilt will be big part of what Lakers do

JJ Redick has done his homework on his players and seems to already have a vision for how each of them will contribute. As far as Jarred Vanderbilt goes, Redick said he would be a big part of what the team does this upcoming season.