After showing in simply 29 video games final season, Lakers ahead Jarred Vanderbilt continues to be stricken by accidents. In line with Lakers insider Mike Bresnahan, Vanderbilt has but to heal from the foot harm that induced him to overlook most of final season and is unlikely to be prepared for coaching camp forward of the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
“I am unsure he’ll be prepared for coaching camp and even for the preseason video games,” Bresnahan told Spectrum Sportsnet. “It is a foot harm. He opted to not have a process in-season when he received damage in February. So, we’ll see if he is able to go. I haven’t got quite a lot of particulars on it however I am unsure he’ll be prepared for coaching camp. Common season is a unique story. Hopefully, he is prepared by then, however nothing concrete on him but.”
Vanderbilt was one of many beginning forwards on the Lakers squad that reached the Western Convention Finals in 2023. Throughout that postseason run, the lanky ahead was used as the first defender on the opponents’ finest scorers — a task sometimes entrusted upon elite defenders. Getting into the 2023-24 season, many felt Vanderbilt was primed to turn into an All-Defensive participant. His absence was felt dearly because the Lakers completed 17th in defensive rating, a yr after ending as top-of-the-line defensive models within the NBA.
The Lakers tried to fill Vanderbilt’s void with wings akin to Cam Reddish, Rui Hachimura and Taurean Prince, however merely could not recapture the defensive versatility from a yr in the past. If Vanderbilt is unable to start out the 2024-2025 season, the Purple and Gold might as soon as once more run into related points.
Whereas the Lakers do not begin coaching camp till Oct. 1, lots of the group’s gamers have been noticed at their coaching facility in current weeks. Moreover, new head coach JJ Redick and his workers are seemingly in in-season mode, holding scrimmages for some gamers and determining their finest rotations.
The Lakers kick off the preseason with a sport towards the Timberwolves on Oct. 4. They start their regular-season marketing campaign towards the identical group on Oct. 22.
