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Jarred Vanderbilt #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers

When the Lakers acquired forward Jarred Vanderbilt in the massive three-team trade that was required to erase the Russell Westbrook mistake, it appeared that Vanderbilt could fill a critical role for the team, one that was mostly missing from its roster–a tough-minded, versatile defensive big man. Indeed, Vanderbilt started 24 games down the stretch in 2023, and the Lakers went 17-7 in those games.

He appeared to be a promising part of the Lakers future, and L.A. rewarded him with a four-year, $48 million contract. But the following year, Vanderbilt was sidelined by persistent foot injuries, which limited him to 29 games. The Lakers were frustrated by the fact that Vanderbilt could not stay on the floor into the next season, either, and played just 36 games.

Vanderbilt was mostly healthy last season, but when coach JJ Redick played him, Vanderbilt’s defense was still sharp but his offense utterly cratered and his confidence was sapped. Redick eventually stopped playing Vanderbilt, and though the two eventually smoothed things over, they were spotted arguing on the sideline during a game late in the season.

Lakers Cut Back on Jarred Vanderbilt Minutes

Now, as the Lakers seek to make changes to the roster after a promising end to the 2025-26 season, moving Vanderbilt is a priority. He averaged 4.4 points on 47.1% shooting last year, not exactly the kind of numbers that will have teams scrambling for his services.

Said one Western Conference executive: “We talk about defensive liabilities all the time, but he would be an offensive liability and that gums things up for the rest of your players. He has gone backwards offensively–he was not that bad in Minnesota. If you think that version of him is still in there, he is not that old (27), you can take that gamble and trade for him. But it’s a tough sell. There are a lot of other gambles you’d take before him.”

Dalton Knecht on the Trade Block, Too

As much as the Lakers would like to get off of Vanderbilt’s contract, it is not onerous–$12.4 million this year and $13.2 million on a player option in 2027-28. It could be dealt into another team’s mid-level exception, or into a trade exception by a team that had the space for it, but again, there are better options out there.

The Lakers could, too, package Vanderbilt and former first-round pick Dalton Knecht, with Knecht being the sweetener in the deal. But Knecht has been dumped from Redick’s rotation, too, and his value is minimal at this point. As a rookie in 2024-25, Knecht averaged 9.1 points in 19.2 minutes over 78 games.

Last season, that drooped to 4.2 points in 10.2 minutes in 54 games. He would not be much of a sweetener.

The Lakers could attach a draft pick to get Vanderbilt moved, but they’d have to be getting a productive young player back in return. The Lakers can’t attach a second-rounder just to grease the wheels of a Vanderbilt deal–they have already dealt away their next seven second-round picks.