The Los Angeles Lakers were blown out by the Phoenix Suns in their preseason opener, although there were some positives to take away.
One of them was the defensive activity of Jarred Vanderbilt, who dealt with a multitude of injuries the last couple of seasons. Vanderbilt is now feeling healthy though and that was evident on Friday night.
“I thought Vando played extremely hard and was very disruptive,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the game.
As is normally the case, Vanderbilt did not fill up the statsheet as he had one points and two rebounds on 0-of-4 shooting. He did have a block and a steal though and made a number of big plays on the defensive end.
“He was a bright spot tonight,” Redick added. “I thought his physicality, disruption defensively (was good). As he builds his conditioning, I expect him to be an elite offensive rebounder for us this year. He’s really worked on his shot, I know it didn’t show tonight. But he’s worked on his shot and he’s getting more and more comfortable shooting spot-up 3s. So I expect him to be an impact player for us.”
A lot was made of Vanderbilt’s new and improved jump shot that he worked on this offseason. That wasn’t necessarily on display in this one with the 26-year-old missing all three of his 3-point attempts, but the important thing is that he looked healthy and was moving well on the court.
The expectation is for Vanderbilt to play a big role on this Lakers team, mainly because he is one of their only quality perimeter defenders. The offensive end remains a work in progress for him but if he can be at least passable then Vanderbilt will get a lot of minutes in Redick’s rotation.
JJ Redick believes pre-injury Jarred Vanderbilt has returned to Lakers
Even before Friday night’s game, JJ Redick had noticed how much better Jarred Vanderbilt was moving in Lakers training camp practices.
“It looks like we do have the pre-injury version of Vando,” Redick said. “I’ve talked a lot with him this summer about just like that he got put into a tough spot, post-trade, because he had to play the five, there wasn’t other options. Just play small, had to be the backup five, they were our two options. So, I think getting him back on the perimeter, his body being in a good place from an athleticism and agility standpoint, will be super helpful for our team.”
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