Can Jarred Vanderbilt finally earn a lasting role under JJ Redick?

Welcome to our Lakers Season Preview Series! For the next several weeks, we’ll be writing columns every weekday breaking down the biggest questions we have about every player the Lakers added this offseason. Today, we look at Jarred Vanderbilt.

It might be hard to believe, but with the massive overhaul of the Lakers roster this offseason, Jarred Vanderbilt is now the second-longest tenured Laker behind only Austin Reaves. After being traded to the Lakers in February 2023, this will be the fifth season in which Vando’s rocked the Forum blue and gold, outlasting every other player who was acquired with him in the trade that shipped Russell Westbrook out and catapulted the team on their run to the conference finals later that spring.

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All these seasons later, though, it’s fair to say that Vanderbilt has lost ground in his pursuit of a lasting role commensurate with his salary. After solidifying a spot in Darvin Ham’s rotation as a chaos-inducing defensive ace, Vando has never gained a footing under JJ Redick, going stretches of seeing two to three shifts a game and then racking up DNP-CD’s after his production (and skill set) on both sides of the ball proved a bit too inconsistent and lacking to not chase an alternative.

With a remade roster that still lacks an established starter at the forward spot opposite Luka Dončić, however, Vanderbilt might not be buried yet. Yes, there are alternatives in-house who, at first blush, feel like they’d have the upper hand in the race for a role. But as long as he’s on the roster, Vanderbilt should not be counted out. Particularly when roster changes might make Vando a better fit than he was the previous two seasons under Redick.

What is his best-case scenario?

When it comes to how Vanderbilt can best find a role, it feels easiest to point to any sort of improvement offensively — especially as a shooter from behind the arc — as the key to him finally sticking. And while I won’t argue against the importance of Vando knocking down shots as being meaningful for his overall utility, I think it’s disingenuous to put all the emphasis on an improvement on that side of…

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Publish date : 2026-09-09 15:24:00

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