Jarred Vanderbilt is one of the most unique players on the Lakers roster and in the league and new head coach JJ Redick is excited to get to coach him.
There are few players in the NBA like Jarred Vanderbilt. That uniqueness makes him a particularly valuable player and, as the Lakers learned last season, a particularly difficult player to replace.
After he played a big role in helping the Lakers advance deep into the playoffs in 2022, Vando spent a good chunk of last season either out injured or playing hurt. The result was only brief glimpses of the impact he can make and, instead, the Lakers searched — and failed — for ways to replicate it.
Interestingly, as the Lakers have talked about their roster moving forward this summer, especially now under JJ Redick, Vando’s name has not been one commonly mentioned. At 25 years old, Vando could easily still be seen as part of the young core.
Instead, though, it’s been Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Max Christie who have been most commonly discussed. However, Redick recently went some way in putting any worries about Vanderbilt’s role moving forward to rest.
In an interview with Mike Trudell on the Lakers website, Redick expressed his eagerness to coach Vando next season.
I think the unique thing about Jarred, and a number of really good teams that made deep playoff runs have guys like him, that are energy, defense, ball hawks. He can sort of … I call them energy shifters. He can change the energy of an entire game, and he doesn’t have to do it with scoring, which makes him really unique. I can’t wait to coach him. Obviously he has some rehab to do for the rest of the summer, but when he’s healthy, he’s going to be a big part of what we do.
First note, it’s interesting that Redick is talking about Vando still having rehab this summer. During the playoffs, Vando was cleared to return but wasn’t used. The fact he’s still doing rehab in July might suggestion he was only a “break in case of emergency” option as best for the Lakers in the postseason.
To Redick’s point of energy shifters, that’s a great way to explain what Vando can do. When he gets on the court, Vando changes the game, and in a lot of ways, it doesn’t show up in the box score. At best, tangible stats don’t show the full impact he can make in a game.
Finding ways to best utilize him will be a key for the Lakers’ new coaching staff this season. The team started to find some answers on offense that were intriguing before his injury. But the more Vando can be on the court, the more it’s a positive for the Lakers, and the more JJ Redick can find success in his first season.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
