JJ Redick’s truth bomb on Jared Vanderbilt’s bench

LOS ANGELES – During the NBA season, roster rotations are often in flux due to injuries, absences, trades and signings/waives. For Los Angeles Lakersthey’ve had a pretty healthy rotation ever since the return of lebron james who missed the first 14 games of the season. Unfortunately for Jarred Vanderbiltit came with him on the bench. Before the Lakers’ game against the Phoenix Suns on Monday, the head coach JJ Redick explained his decision to pull Vanderbilt from the rotation.

“He was professional, he was great. In the last ‘stay tuned’ he had this week, he was great. He was a great teammate, so no surprises there. I told him even before LeBron came back, there are certain things he needs to be able to do consistently in order to play,” Redick said. “And that there will potentially be a roster violation because we’re probably going to play a nine-man rotation, and that was the reality.”

As for the Lakers’ frontcourt rotation, Deandre Ayton is the starting center with LeBron James and Rui Hachimura as the starting forwards. Off the bench, JJ Redick used Jackson Hayes as the backup center and Jake Laravia as the backup power forward. And since Maxi Kleber is healthy, Redick has used him in the rotation as well.

But Redick was clear that as the season progresses, Jared Vanderbilt’s early benching doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t have a spot in the Lakers’ rotation again.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not going to be back in the rotation at some point, whether we’re healthy or missing a couple guys. When we’re winning, it’s hard to repeat the rotation in the middle of a winning streak. So we look at everything, and there were some combinations in the lineup when we were hurt they said we had to go, Reddy had to go. “And he was caught as kind of an innocent bystander in a way. I certainly have empathy for him, and it’s not a fun situation to be in as a coach and it’s certainly not a fun situation for him as a player.”

The Lakers’ defense has been kind of average this season compared to the rest of the NBA, and that’s one area where Vanderbilt has shined. When it comes to players in the regular rotation, Vanderbilt actually has the most the team’s defensive rating at 111.0, according to StatMuse.

But where Vanderbilt struggled at times he was able to provide a consistent offense. Vanderbilt has never been a prolific shooter throughout his career, but he hasn’t been able to consistently knock down the open shot, especially from three-point range, when teams have allowed him to shoot it.

He is shooting just 28.6 percent from three-point range this season. Even before the start of the season, Vanderbilt emphasized that he is able to knock down those shots as a means to match up with the Lakers’ elite playmakers.

The last time Vanderbilt played was on November 15 during the Lakers’ victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. He played just over seven minutes and finished with one rebound and one assist without taking a single shot. James returned the next game and has been out of the rotation ever since.

Vanderbilt has one year left on his contract after this and then a player option for 2027-28. Even though he is on the bench in close proximity, he has skills that can help the Lakers. It remains to be seen when he will get his shot again.