Welcome to our annual Lakers season in review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we take a look at Jarred Vanderbilt
.This season was it for Jarred Vanderbilt to establish himself. Unlike previous summers, the 6’8 forward had time to focus on growing his game instead of recovering from injuries. Having him ready at the start of the season was enough to hope that he’d finally have
a breakout year.
But that wasn’t the case.
With LeBron James missing the start of the season due to a sciatica injury, there was an opportunity for Vando to make the most of the minutes he was given, but he didn’t do anything extraordinary with them.
Then James came back and so did Vanderbilt’s DNPs. There were multiple reasons for the latter happening, such as JJ Redick sticking to a shorter rotation, the Lakers having a plethora of wings and Redick’s system needing more spacers to fully optimize James and Luka Dončić.
In short, Vanderbilt didn’t stand out enough to be a key player on the Lakers this season.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the 12-year veteran didn’t contribute anything to the table. After all, he was still a reliable defensive option that Los Angeles needed at times and he did have a few noteworthy games. He was also the guy on the team who had everyone’s back to the point that he’d risk a technical or even ejection to get in the opponent’s face.
Overall, Vanderbilt remains a useful player but his limitations as well as his health are just too hard to ignore — especially now that he’s in his fourth year as Laker.
How did he play?
When I wrote Vanderbilt’s season review last season, an eye-opening stat that perfectly summed up his offensive limitations was that he averaged just 4.1 points on 28.1% from the 3-point line and 48.8% from the field in 16.1 minutes per game. That was for the ‘24-’25 NBA season.
Fast forward to this year, the 27-year-old doubled down by averaging 4.4 points on 29.3% shooting as well as 47.1% from the field in 17.4 minutes per game. He attempted a total of 99 3-pointers this season and only converted 29 of them. It’s important to highlight this because that’s the best way Vando makes the defense pay. Clearly, it’s not something he did very well.
On the other end, it’s hard to complain about Vando’s contributions. He averaged 4.5 rebounds per game and provided versatility, energy and hustle. It was even fair to argue that he deserved more minutes in Redick’s rotation, considering that the head coach opted to play G League and two-way players ahead of him.
It also didn’t help that Vando and Redick seemed to have their fair share of disagreements, but it ultimately turned out to be all good between the two.
At the very least, the DNPs didn’t follow Vanderbilt into the playoffs, where he played key minutes against the Houston Rockets. Unfortunately, he suffered a gruesome finger injury in the first game of the second roundagainst the Oklahoma City Thunder and that was pretty much the end of his season.
What is the contract situation moving forward?
Currently, Vanderbilt is signed under a four-year contract worth $48 million with a player option on the final year. He’ll be on the third year of his contract next season, which means both and he and the Lakers are tied with each other this summer.
The more important question is whether or not the Lakers will keep it that way by the time the season starts.
Should he be back?
Vanderbilt is the last piece left from the Russell Westbrook trade in 2023. It’s fair to say that he, and perhaps D’Angelo Russell, were the best assets the Lakers gained from that trade. But the longer Vando has been with the Lakers, the less favorable his contract has become. It feels like L.A. can turn the 25 million left in his contract into a more valuable asset.
That said, if the Lakers don’t get to trade Vando in the summer, then he’ll certainly be back on the team. But he’ll most likely be playing in the same limited role as this season because it’s clear that he’s not a priority nor a vital asset under Redick’s system.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
