Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Jarred Vanderbilt Reportedly Returning For Lakers Saturday vs. Warriors

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jared Vanderbilt is about to return? No, seriously. Jared Vanderbilt is about to return to action for the Lakers. That's next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. And thanks for making Locked on Lakers your first. Listen every day Monday through Friday, wherever you get your podcast, always free, never behind a paywall. who like to watch Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 27,000 subscribers, a community of really fun, really smart, very respectful Laker fans. It's fun to be a part of that community, leaving comments in the comments section, which we often use for the show. Just me today.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Brian on available to join, but wanted to give some quick reaction to the news. from Sham Shirani of ESPN that, quote, Los Angeles Lakers for Jared Vanderbilt has been medically cleared to make his season debut Saturday against the Golden State Warriors barring any unforeseen setbacks. Sources told ESPN on Wednesday, this feels in line with what has seemed like an incremental but steady and, as I often point out, specific details with the return of Jared. Vanderbilt to the court. He has been seen more frequently working out. He has been doing assignments with the South Bay Lakers, just getting more on court reps, had been working out with the coaches,

Starting point is 00:01:47 all of that stuff. And it has felt like this return has been imminent, if still very cautious. And my optimistic take on a lot of this, even as the process has often seemed for a while torturous, and fuzzy and certainly when it comes to the double foot surgery that that little detail, that little nugget was dropped in our laps a couple days before Media Day. No big deal. Jared Vanderbilt underwent off-season foot surge. We've been through all this before. But the upside is it finally feels like Vando is about to take the court this Saturday.

Starting point is 00:02:31 obviously a big deal for the Lakers in terms of the defensive impact and versatility that Vando can offer. The uptick in rebounding, Jared Vanderbilt, I would argue, is pound for pound the best rebounder on this team. If you want to do it in terms of pure volume, he is other than Anthony Davis and maybe LeBron, I think, on a per minute's basis, most effective rebounder on this team. In particular, he can provide help on the offensive glass where the Lakers have been one of the worst rebounding teams in the entire league this season, the offensive glass, the Lakers creating second chance opportunities for themselves. They have been really bad on that end of the floor, that particular skill set all season.

Starting point is 00:03:28 So Vando's ability to help along those lines will be desperately needed. I think also just the general energy and edge that Vando plays with. Another factor that this team has been lacking all season, it's something that I think in part the Lakers were looking for when they traded DeAngelo Russell for Dorian Finney Smith in the first place. So these are all areas that Vando can definitely help. I think it should be expected. J.J. Redick has said there will be a minutes limit if I had to ballpark it,

Starting point is 00:04:04 and this is purely me guessing, but I think making an educated guess based on how we've seen other guys come back from injury, including Jared Vanderbilt last season. It'll probably be 12 to 15, maybe 17, 18 minutes max to begin, two or three shifts a game. but that is obviously going to be very helpful for the Lakers. I imagine that Vanderbilt, unless he really gets up to speed really quickly, will be somebody playing off the bench heading into this season before realized that Jared Vanderbilt was recovering from that offseason double foot surgery. I had talked a lot about wanting to see Jared Vanderbilt starting at small forward as

Starting point is 00:04:50 opposed to Rui Hachamora because beyond the fact that I think you can arguably get more offensive utility from Rui, and I still believe that coming off the bench at the time with Austin Reeves and DeAngelo Russell, I think Vando would have offered more defensive utility and versatility, and frankly, ways to cover for the fact that Vendilo and Austin Reeves were at their best defensive neutrals, at their worst slash most realistic defensive liabilities. Even now with Max Christie in the starting lineup for essentially DeAngelo Russell, that still is a factor.

Starting point is 00:05:35 But I think at this point, Dorian Finney Smith, if anybody is going to get moved into that lineup for Rui, assuming Rui is still on the team after the trade deadline, I think it's more likely going to be DFS, but Vando playing off the bench would still be tremendously helpful. The defense for this team, whether it's with the starters, whether it's with primarily bench guys, mix of the two. It's needed shoring up. The rebound that is needed shoring up, any type of rim protection possible is needed shoring up. And Vando can do all of that. My guess, My read on this is the first place you look for his minutes will be Dalton Connect. Dalton's minutes have been steadily decreasing as his points and scoring and outside shooting

Starting point is 00:06:25 has just fallen into a pretty pronounced slump. Vanderbilt offensively is just sort of where you can put him in general. And we know the limitations of Vando offensively, although I do think that there are creative ways that you can work around it and use Vando as a screener, as a passer, as a role man, stuff like that. But offensively, it's just sort of where you place him anyway. Defensively, though, he can operate as a wing or even a guard in terms of the assignments that he takes on. And I would imagine the first place that you look for those minutes for Vando will actually come at the expense of Dalton Connect.

Starting point is 00:07:11 Depending on certain lineups, you could see less of Jackson Hayes on the floor in terms of how much specific size is needed dictated by matchup, that sort of thing. Every indication I've gotten is that all things being equal, JJ Redick prefers to go smaller, if not necessarily small. And there are, you know, as I like to call it, medium ball. And there are ways that you can go without a backup center without being a tiny group. and Vando is the key to making that viable. We're going to get more into the impact of Jared Vanderbilt's return in the show coming up with Brian for Thursday, the full episode, but wanted to lay out my initial thoughts on this and just my general excitement that they will get Bando back because if nothing else, the waiting has been interminable. And if I'm glad to not have to talk. hopefully fingers crossed about Jared Vanderbilt and his availability anymore.

Starting point is 00:08:16 Moving forward for more coverage, obviously make sure you're watching Locked on Lakers on YouTube, listening on the podcast, the audio portion. We will be back with a full show. But before we go, we want to make sure that everyone knows that Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time. I love going to live events, whether it's sports, music, theater, comedy.

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Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Jarred Vanderbilt Reportedly Returning For Lakers Saturday vs. Warriors

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