When Jarred Vanderbilt is healthy, his impact is undeniable. He’s one of the best defenders not just on the Lakers, but in the NBA. Appreciating and understanding Vando’s level of play is a litmus test
for your basketball acumen.
However, in the past two seasons, Vando has been hurt. As a result, he’s missed many games and when he was on the court, he didn’t look like the player who’s so beloved by fans.
This offseason, Vanderbilt says he felt great after having his first healthy summer in years. During training camp, Lakers head coach JJ Redick has praised Vando’s play and in LA’s first preseason game, the tape matched Redick’s words.
Vanderbilt played for 21 minutes and had some great defensive plays. He had a steal and a block and was a nuisance on and off the ball.
After the loss, Redick highlighted his performance.
“He was a bright spot tonight,” Redick said. “I thought his physicality, disruption defensively, I think as he builds his level of conditioning, I expect him to be an elite offensive rebounder for us this year. He’s really worked on a shot. I know it didn’t show tonight, but he’s worked on the shot. He’s getting more and more comfortable shooting spot-up three, so I expect him to be an impact player for us.”
As Redick mentioned, the shooting wasn’t there for Vando in this contest as he ended the night going 0-4 from the field. Yet, his health and defensive burst being evident is a far bigger development. If that continues, Vando becomes a player who will be in the rotation each night, and it raises the team’s floor.
“He’s looked great,” Austin Reaves said. “That spurt that we had in the second quarter where we made a little run, that was all because of his energy and effort on the defensive end. Causing chaos, getting us easy opportunities in transition. So, it’s good to see. Very happy for him. I know he’s been working his ass off all summer to get back there, so I’m very happy for him.”
The offense hopefully comes along, but for now, give the Lakers a healthy Vanderbilt and they’ll have some defensive versatility on this roster that was non-existent last season.
In the preseason, all that matters is coming out of the games healthy and seeing some of your main guys playing well during some of their shifts. On both accounts, Vando won the day and that’s more important big-picture-wise than what the final score was.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
