Jarred Vanderbilt's playing time will be limited once he returns

Jarred Vanderbilt’s playing time will be limited once he returns

Posted by author January 11, 2025 Sports

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Right now, multiple wildfires continue to ravage the greater Los Angeles area, and in particular, the Palisades Fire has burned over 21,000 acres and reached the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley. It seems like the entire Southland is in a state of panic and fear, and the fire situation has even caused not one but two of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ home games to be postponed.

However, there is a slight glimmer of hope for a Lakers team that is coming off back-to-back road losses to the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. Jarred Vanderbilt, a forward who has been unable to play since midway through last season due to a foot injury and subsequent surgery, continues to inch toward a return.

He has been getting in live work, first with Lakers coaches and then with the franchise’s G League affiliate, and while there is no return date for him, it’s starting to feel like his return is not too far away. However, Lakers fans shouldn’t expect a whole lot out of him when he comes back to game action.

Head coach JJ Redick expects to play the defensive specialist sparingly once he is cleared to return.

Via Los Angeles Times:

“Obviously his defensive versatility and being able to guard up or down will be great for our group. But I would just say, initially coming back, it’s going to be in small doses,” Redick said. “That’s just the reality. He hasn’t played basketball in almost a year, we have to be cognizant of building him up for, hopefully, a playoff run.”

Redick said that it will take some time for Vanderbilt to truly feel like he’s back.

“I think it starts with trusting your body, and that’s something that any athlete who has had a serious injury or had surgery knows. And it doesn’t happen in one game. It doesn’t happen in two games. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to really trust your body,” he said. “And then, the conditioning piece would probably be the other one. Those are probably the two biggest things.”

Last season, Vanderbilt missed the first several weeks of the schedule due to heel bursitis. He returned in early December, but it took him several more weeks to get his groove back.

Once he returns this time around and gets back into game shape, his defensive versatility, rebounding and overall energy could be somewhat of an elixir for a solid but unspectacular Lakers team that is groping for a way to get to the next level.