Will the recently-extended Los Angeles combo forward ever be healthy again?
Los Angeles Lakers combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt was limited to just 29 games played in LA’s 2023-24 regular season due to a lingering right foot injury. He also sat out LA’s 110-106 play-in game win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
Will he be any healthier in time for the Lakers’ first actual playoff game against the Denver Nuggets, slated for tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. PT?
It sure doesn’t sound like it.
According to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register, Vanderbilt was spotted in a walking boot following the team’s first practice of its series against the Nuggets.
To hear the 6’8″ big man’s head coach tell it, anyway, this doesn’t necessarily mean he’s out for this entire first round matchup.
Head coach Darvin Ham suggested that the boot is a mere “precautionary measure,” and insists that it doesn’t indicate some kind of regression from his recovery for Vanderbilt, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
In the 29 games he did manage to play this past season, the 25-year-old posted fairly modest averages of 5.2 points on 51.8% shooting from the floor, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, all below his career averages. Vanderbilt inked a four-year, $48 million contract extension before the start of the season. That deal kicks in next year. Here’s hoping he’ll have better health when he’s making $12 million annually.
