Jarred Vanderbilt became a pivotal part of the Lakers after the trade deadline moves. His impact and his weaknesses were undeniable.
Could he be a piece for the Lakers now and going forward?
From @CooperHalpern https://t.co/Nx8LI5BAFm
— Silver Screen and Roll (@LakersSBN) June 15, 2023
Despite his inspired defensive effort and consistent spot in the starting lineup, Jarred Vanderbilt’s many limitations took a toll on his overall value to the Lakers.
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Should the Lakers Bring Him Back?
This offseason, as long as they do so before the end of June, the Lakers are free to waive Jarred Vanderbilt and pay him only $300,000 of his contract. However, Vando’s imperfect play is somewhat mitigated by the low price-tag facing the Lakers if they do decide to keep him. For just $4.5 million, the Lakers can retain a highly useful player in certain circumstances, even if those situations are more limited than his deployment on the team so far. As a value proposition alone, Vanderbilt is worth keeping around.
Further, at just 24 years old, he’s younger than both Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, meaning there’s a chance he is capable of refining his jumper into something workable, even given his genuinely busted form. If that doesn’t happen, though, Vando is a nice tool to keep in the shed, even if only for certain types of projects.
Will He Return?
The Lakers will almost certainly guarantee Vanderbilt’s contract, regardless of whether they intend to deal him. Still, his contract is basically twice the veteran’s minimum and too small to be a significant chunk of a major deal, so there probably aren’t many scenarios where the Lakers have to send him out in return for a star — if they even decide to go that route.
Nonetheless, with trade rumors swirling and the June 22 NBA Draft swiftly approaching followed by free agency at the beginning of July, whether Vando’s career continues as a Laker will be determined soon.
Of course you bring him back. Exactly the type of low cost role player you keep and develop; which is supposed to be our staff’s strong suit. Everybody doesn’t have to be a 3pt shooter. Defend, rebound, hustle, cut to the basket and get those easy points around the rim. I would like to see him work on his hands though…seems to fumble the ball alot.
He may have been our best perimeter defender last year. This was actually the first year he added a 3 point shot. He hardly took any before. He shot 33% for the Jazz before the trade and 30% for us. With another summer of work it’s not unreasonable to think that he can hit between 33 and 35%. I would like to see him attack the rim more when teams give him that much space. The Lakers are not going to find anyone better at that salary.
There’s no question Vando is a valuable player but it’s become obvious that he’s not yet starter quality for a championship contender. Can he improve? For sure.
The issue is obviously his lack of 3-point gravity, which makes it easy for teams to pack the paint against LeBron and AD. A secondary issue to me is Vando is as bad as Ben Simmons when he gets the ball in the paint. He cannot finish if guarded.
There may be situations where Vando’s value to the Lakers as a trading chip could trump his value as a player. Lakers just have to be realistic.
There were two players who become more and more unplayable as the Lakers got deeper into the playoffs. Some was just due to matchups and they may opt to keep both short term but doubt Dlo and Vando will be here long term.
You keep that dude at a price of $4.5mill. The comparison to Simmons is laughable…Vando ain’t scared. Even minimal improvement makes him a steal at that salary