Report: Jarred Vanderbilt targeting early January for his return

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt reportedly is dealing with fluid in his left knee and is now targeting a return to the lineup in early January.

“Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has recently experienced fluid in his left knee during his rehabilitation from offseason procedures to both feet and is targeting early January for his return, the Lakers told ESPN on Tuesday,” ESPN’s Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin wrote.

Even though the Lakers previously said that Vanderbilt had not suffered a setback in his recovery from offseason procedures in his feet, it appears the team will have to wait until the new year for him to make his season debut.

“On Nov. 20, the Lakers announced that Vanderbilt’s ramp-up after surgery on his right foot and removing a bone spur in his left foot in May has taken longer than the team anticipated,” Charania and McMenamin wrote. “However, the Lakers claimed at the time that Vanderbilt had not suffered a setback during the return-to-play process and he would be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks.”

The Lakers acquired Vanderbilt in a trade in the 2022-23 season, and he was a key piece for them on their run to the Western Conference Finals. However, he has dealt with injuries since then, appearing in less than half of the Lakers’ games in the 2023-24 campaign.

Vanderbilt started 24 of the 26 games that he played in for the Lakers in the 2022-23 regular season, but he ended up starting just six of the 29 games he played in during the 2023-24 season.

Last season, Vanderbilt averaged 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from 3 in 20.0 minutes per game.

One of the best defenders on the Lakers’ roster, Vanderbilt should give Lakers head coach J.J. Redick some more flexibility in his rotation once he returns to action.

Los Angeles has opened up the 2024-25 season with a 12-9 record after it lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.

However, Los Angeles ranks 24th in the NBA in defensive rating so far this season. Vanderbilt may be able to fix some of the team’s issues on that side of the ball, but he doesn’t bring the same offensive punch that Rui Hachimura does on the wing.

For his career, Vanderbilt averages just 6.1 points per game while shooting 29.0 percent from beyond the arc.

The Lakers signed Vanderbilt to a four-year, $48 million deal in September 2023. The first season of that deal is the 2024-25 campaign, meaning Vanderbilt is under contract with the Lakers for at least the next few seasons (he has a player option in the fourth year of the deal).

It’ll be interesting to see if Vanderbilt can make an impact for the Lakers once he’s finally able to return to action.