The Los Angeles Lakers are scuttling into the trade deadline with a 26-25 record through 51 games, and they recently got a bit of bad injury news that is going to make things even harder. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt will miss multiple weeks with a right foot sprain. He'll be reevaluated in 3-4 weeks, the Lakers say, after hurting his foot late in the first half of Thursday's surprise win over the Boston Celtics.
Vanderbilt, who fortunately signed a four-year, $48 million extension during the offseason, has struggled through injuries all season. He didn't play his first game this season until Dec. 2 because of heel bursitis. It took him even longer to work himself back up to the level he'd played at last season, but lately, he had emerged as one of the few consistent positives for a Lakers team that has otherwise disappointed.
The Lakers have won Vanderbilt's 581 minutes by 43 points cumulatively, the third-best mark on the team. Their defensive rating is 5.9 points per 100 possessions better with him in the game, and while Darvin Ham was only just warming up to the idea of returning to last season's starting five of Vanderbilt, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell, that group has outscored opponents by 27 points in the 32 minutes that it has played this season. Vanderbilt's defense provides a necessary counterbalance to the offense Reaves and Russell bring to the table. That's what makes the lineup work.
Now, the Lakers are without their best perimeter defender moving forward. With just days before the trade deadline, perimeter defense would now appear to be a far greater need than it previously had been. Top target Dejounte Murray has been a strong defender in the past, though his consistency has waned in recent years. Wing targets like Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale make more sense now than they did before the injury.
The Lakers have frankly struggled this season no matter who has been on the floor. They can't afford to lose anyone for an extended period in a very crowded Western Conference. Now, they'll lose a key piece for the foreseeable future.
