Los Angeles Lakers power forward Jarred Vanderbilt has yet to suit up for any of the ten games (including tonight's unfinished contest) that his club has played thus far in this still-young 2023-24 NBA season.
Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet revealed during LA's ongoing game against the Portland Trail Blazers tonight that we'll get an update on Vanderbilt's status at some point Monday.
The 6'9" big man out of Kentucky has been dealing with left heel bursitis since LA kicked off its preseason this October. He inked a four-year, $48 million contract extension this summer with the Lakers, ensuring that he'll stick around at Crypto.com Arena until the 2027-28 season.
Los Angeles could certainly use Vanderbilt's defense tonight. The club is currently trailing a very injured Portland Trail Blazers team at the half, 57-56, despite having homecourt advantage. Yes, LA is missing All-NBA small forward LeBron James, Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent among its rotation players, but that's not really an excuse against a Trail Blazers team missing three of its top four guards that, even with those players, is still spiraling towards the lottery.
More must-reads: