Lakers Big Man Highlighted As ‘Bright Spot’ by JJ Redick

The Los Angeles Lakers' 2025 preseason debut on Friday was, in many respects, a night to forget.

Los Angeles instead let go of the rope in the second half, ultimately getting blown out by the likely lottery-bound Phoenix Suns, 103-81.

Of course, preseason outings are generally pretty meaningless. This exhibition matchup in Palm Desert was missing the Lakers' two best players, 21-time All-NBA power forward LeBron James and five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic. Two of LA's projected top perimeter defenders this year, Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent, sat with injuries.

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These various absences, however, offered up a new opportunity to an oft-overlooked role player: reserve forward Jarred Vanderbilt, LA's other top perimeter defender.

Second-year head coach JJ Redick observed that, although the 6-foot-8 Kentucky product didn't score much, he looked pretty darn tantalizing on defense, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.

Vanderbilt went 0-for-4 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to finish with one point, while grabbing one rebound, stealing one ball and blocking a shot in 20:57. Redick, though, liked what he saw from Vanderbilt in terms of his speed and moxie.

“He was a bright spot,” Redick said. “His physicality, disruption defensively, as he builds this level of conditioning, I expect him to be an elite offensive rebounder for us this year.”

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While Vanderbilt's lackluster offensive arsenal has generally led to him being underutilized in the postseason, it appears he is angling to improve that this year. Redick, for one, spoke of his striving to upgrade his shooting.

“He’s really worked on his shot,” Redick added. “I know it didn’t show, but he’s worked on his shot. He’s getting more and more comfortable shooting spot-up 3s. So I expect him to be an impact player for us.”

The 26-year-old is in the second season of a four-year, $48 million veteran contract extension he agreed to with Los Angeles in the 2023 offseason. Were he to hit the free agent market next summer, as of this writing at least, he wouldn't be able to fetch nearly that much.

Can Vanderbilt Improve on His 2024-25 Season?

Across just 36 healthy games last year, Vanderbilt averaged 4.1 points on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 55.6 percent shooting from the charity stripe, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 swipes in 16.1 minutes per.

He saw his minutes slashed from 16.1 to 12 in the playoffs, and his scoring fell off a cliff in a five-game first round defeat — he averaged just 1.4 points on 33.3 percent shooting from the floor. Despite being one of the most athletic frontcourt players on the Lakers' roster, Redick was clearly not comfortable playing Vanderbilt major minutes against the bigger, longer Minnesota Timberwolves — even though, in theory, he was the exact kind of player Redick needed. Dorian Finney-Smith had essentially supplanted.

If he wants to ensure a long-term future in the league, he'll need to prove that he can stay healthy and that he can score from outside the rim.

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