Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was the latest to go down with an injury, hurting his right foot in the recent win over the Boston Celtics, After consultation with multiple specialists, Vanderbilt has been diagnosed with a right mid-foot sprain and will be re-evaluated by team doctors in approximately 3-4 weeks.
After missing the first couple months of the season with a left heel issue, it took Vanderbilt a while to get fully healthy and round into form. That was finally starting to happen in recent weeks though and he looked awesome against the Celtics with 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals in 16 minutes. Unfortunately, he suffered the foot injury on a non-contact play at the end of the first half and was unable to return.
While X-rays came back negative of Vanderbilt’s foot, he still needed to undergo further testing before determining the exact severity of the injury. The fear was that it was a significant injury for the 24-year-old, and while the injury is indeed significant, it is good news that he hasn’t been ruled out for the season as some suspected.
Vanderbilt will begin a rehab process from here and once 3-4 weeks pass, the team will re-evaluate him to figure out how much longer he needs before being able to return.
This injury comes at an unfortunate time with the Lakers trying to make a run to get back into championship contention. Vanderbilt is not only the team’s best perimeter defender, but his energy and toughness are not something that can be easily replicated.
Vanderbilt signed a four-year, $48 million contract extension this past offseason to stay with the Lakers long-term, so hopefully he can get the treatment he needs to be ready to come back at full strength whenever he is back to feeling 100%.
If he cannot get back to full health before the start of the playoffs then the team likely would not hesitate to shut him down for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Lakers interested in Nets wings
With Jarred Vanderbilt out, the Lakers will need to find a way to replace his defensive toughness on the wing and perimeter, which may need to come from outside the organization.
The Lakers have already been linked to Brooklyn Nets wings Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale and now could step up their efforts to acquire one of both before the Feb. 8 deadline.
In light of Vanderbilt’s injury, finding a wing defender is believed to be the organization’s top priority leading up to the deadline.
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