The last couple of years have been tough for Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt as he often found himself in and out of the lineup due to foot issues.
He wound up undergoing surgery on both of his feet last offseason though and finally made his return to the lineup in the middle of the 2024-25 season, getting healthier as the season went on. He was able to plat 36 games to close the regular season after missing over a year of action.
Now that Vanderbilt is healthy, the purpose of this offseason for the 26-year-old is to work on his offensive game so he can get back to the starting-level player he once was. And it appears Vanderbilt has indeed been in the lab as he took to Instagram to post a video of some of his workouts:
In the video, Vanderbilt says: “It’s my first offseason in a couple summers being able to actually put in some work instead of rehab. It’s a big difference in the approach, results, everything.”
This is a big offseason for Vanderbilt as his offensive game needs to improve for him to be a valuable rotation piece for the Lakers. Whether it be his three-ball or cutting and finishing around the rim, Vanderbilt needs to present some sort of threat offensively to avoid being played off the floor in important games. It’s no secret that he is a strong defender, but JJ Redick has constantly emphasized the need for two-way play in his rotation.
Considering the Lakers still view point of attack defense as a need of theirs, having a healthy and improved Vanderbilt would solve a lot of problems for this roster.
Jarred Vanderbilt happy to have healthy offseason to work on game
The last couple of offseasons have been spent rehabbing for Jarred Vanderbilt, so at the start of this one, the Lakers forward expressed his excitement to be healthy for once.
“For myself personally, I’m excited. I haven’t had a healthy offseason in like two years,” Vanderbilt said in his exit interview. “This last summer, coming off multiple surgeries and not being able to workout all summer, I’m just excited to be able to have a healthy summer, man, so I can really put the time in and be able to work on my game and, also, have a healthy summer.”
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