NBA rumors: The major problem if Lakers look to trade Jarred Vanderbilt
Yesterday at 11:00 AM
The Los Angeles Lakers are in an interesting spot ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, and Jarred Vanderbilt is a big reason why, but there is reason to believe that he is not likely to be moved, based on what executives around the league think it would take to include him in a trade.
“Vanderbilt has three years remaining on his deal — the kind of long-term money that’s poison in trades,” Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times wrote. “Multiple NBA executives believe the cost to include Vanderbilt in a trade is a first-round pick, meaning he’s far more valuable to the Lakers as a usable player than he would be as part of a trade in which they would have to add assets and essentially be overpaying for whatever they got back.”
The Lakers have been waiting to see what they have in Vanderbilt, who is set to return from injury soon, to determine how they will move forward ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline, according to ClutchPoints. It is understandable for the Lakers to want some kind of data on how their team performs with Vanderbilt before they make a move, but given the amount of time he has missed due to injury, many believe he should not be impacting the team’s actions in the coming weeks. It is a frustration for many fans, and teams around the league have seen the Lakers as a team that is hard to work with on a deal at this point in time due to their current approach.
Given Vanderbilt’s contract, which has three years remaining along with a player option for the 2027-2028 season as well. It will be interesting to see how Vanderbilt performs when he returns to the court, as the Lakers will likely depend on him to perform well down the stretch and in a potential playoff run.
LeBron James has made it clear that the Lakers have to play nearly perfect basketball as currently constructed, so it seems like the team desires a move. It will be interesting to see what Los Angeles has up its sleeve in the coming weeks, if anything.
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