Jarred Vanderbilt expected back ‘soon,’ return won’t come this week
Jarred Vanderbilt will make his Lakers season debut soon, just not during this week’s slate of games.
News regarding Jarred Vanderbilt’s health was vague, mysterious and concerning in 2024. Now that it’s 2025, it’s a new year and all the information that Lakers are giving indicates that the wing is returning soon.
First, we heard that Vando was making “real” progress during the first week of January and then Lakers head coach JJ Redick said his return was “imminent” and could even happen during the team’s current homestand.
The Lakers were scheduled to have five home games over a two-week span, but wildfires devasted Los Angeles County and led to the postponement of two games.
The team returned to the court on Monday night and, prior to the game, Redick gave another update on Vanderbilt.
“There’s still a few progressions to ultimately return to an NBA game,” Redick said. “He had an off day yesterday. Today was a lighter day, and then we’re going to ramp it back up and that’s difficult right now with the G League traveling…and then our guys are going to play every other day, so we’re not going to have any live action in practice.
“So it’ll be a little bit of a mixed bag over the next week with live play against coaches, live play with coaches, try to mix in a little bit with the stay ready group. But we’ll get enough exposure to live simulation and, hopefully, he’s back soon again. It’s close, but it’s not going to be this week.”
All news regarding Vanderbilt is good news currently. As Redick stated, a timeline for this can’t be given out just yet, but with his body responding well and Vanderbilt doing more than ever before, this is good news for him and the team.
His defensive presence on the perimeter is desperately needed. Once he’s back, the Lakers should be the healthiest they have been all year and the franchise will have one last chance to evaluate the team before the trade deadline.
Let’s hope Vando is back soon and for good as the season nears the halfway point.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.