Lakers Injury Report: Major Improvement Seen For Hurt Los Angeles Role Player
Does this mean we'll see him in tonight's Denver game?
Los Angeles Lakers reserve combo forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who's been sidelined since early February with a right foot injury, was recently spotted wearing a walking boot while in Denver as LA prepared for the first game of its ongoing first round Western Conference playoffs series against the reigning champion Nuggets. LA would go on to lose, 114-103, in Game 1 on Saturday, and looked particularly vulnerable on the break and along the perimeter defensively.
The player who could probably help solve that issue the most, unfortunately, is Vanderbilt.
Happily, it appears that he might be on the mend! ESPN's Dave McMenamin caught Vanderbilt in team shootaround today sans his boot!
Per the league's latest injury report, Vanderbilt has already been ruled out for tonight's contest, slated to tip off at 7 p.m. PT.
But it's at least an encouraging sign for a potential return at some point in this series. The action shifts to Los Angeles' home court, Crypto.com Arena, on Thursday night. Maybe he'll be back during the Lakers' two-game homestand?
Vanderbilt, a 6'8" Kentucky product who inked a lucrative four-year, $48 million contract extension with LA before playing just 29 regular season games this year, isn't the only key perimeter defender who'll be missing. Small forward Cam Reddish is also on the shelf. Los Angeles will need another great perimeter defender, Gabe Vincent, to step up.
