![\"Lakers,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2248809397-e1764777451964.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick sits alone on the bench before the game against the Mavericks on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Lakers could bring Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a> back into the rotation amid their ongoing defensive struggles<\/a>, per head coach JJ Redick.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt started the season as a big part of the rotation, averaging 21.1 minutes through six games in October. His playing time dropped to 16.3 minutes over eight games in November, but he has since fallen entirely out of the Lakers\u2019 rotation. The 6-foot-8 wing has logged all of three minutes in December, which came during garbage time of the 112-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n After the Spurs<\/a> exposed the Lakers\u2019 glaring defensive issues in the NBA Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday, Redick is contemplating bringing Vanderbilt, an excellent perimeter\u00a0defender, back into the rotation.<\/p>\n JJ Redick Mulls Big Change<\/p>\n \u201cIf this continues, he\u2019ll definitely get his opportunities,\u201d Redick said on Friday of the Lakers bringing Vando back into the rotation, via Thuc Nhi Nguyen of LA Times.<\/a><\/p>\n Redick sounded the alarm bells on his team\u2019s defense after they allowed a Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs to score 132 points against them this week. The Lakers, who rank No. 22 in defense<\/a>, have also conceded over 130 points to lottery-bound teams such as the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> and LA Clippers<\/a>, and over 140 points to the Utah Jazz<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody in that meeting room that thinks we\u2019re a good defensive team right now,\u201d Redick said, \u201cbut I also don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody in that meeting room who thinks we can\u2019t be a good defensive team. We\u2019ve got to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabe Vincent suggested that the Lakers\u2019 defensive struggles could be more personnel-than scheme-related. Further to that point, the Lakers have three subpar defenders in their starting unit and a subpar rim protector.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s less of scheme stuff. A little more of urgency,\u201d Vincent said. \u201cA little more of doing all the little things. If you don\u2019t do them, like I said, there are some great players in this league that will expose you.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers Face Huge Decision<\/p>\n Vando\u2019s issues have always boiled down to his lackluster offensive production. The Kentucky alum shot 26% from three in his limited opportunities earlier in the season, while averaging 4.3 minutes from 17.3 minutes. However, he showed flashes of improvement as a three-point shooter during preseason, which gave Redick optimism about playing him consistent minutes. Alas, his plan didn\u2019t come to fruition.<\/p>\n If Vanderbilt returns to the rotation, the Lakers could potentially cut short the playing time of Jake LaRaVia and Vincent.<\/p>\n As of Dec. 12, the Lakers had four players averaging over 30 minutes \u2014 Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura \u2014 and another four players logging over 20 minutes in Vincent, LaRavia, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart. Jaxson Hayes has logged 16.8 minutes off the bench as the backup center to Ayton.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt could also potentially be used as a small-ball five, a role he often played under Darvin Ham. Last season, he was expected to be a big part of Redick\u2019s rotation, but injuries derailed his season, as he appeared in 36 games. Now that he\u2019s healthy, the defensive-minded wing could get another look \u2014 more out of necessity for the Lakers.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old Vanderbilt is signed through the 2027-28 season with the Lakers. In fact, he\u2019s the only player besides Luka Doncic who is signed for two more years.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick sits alone on the bench before the game against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-346430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}