Training camp for the 2025-26 NBA season is approaching, and while the Los Angeles Lakers may not have a legitimate championship-caliber roster, they do appear to have one that can do some real damage.

They have a number of players who seem to have upward potential, and if those players improve and fulfill their potential this season, perhaps the team can pleasantly surprise quite a few national pundits.

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LeBron Wire is taking a look at the 14 players who are under standard contracts with the Lakers and giving three goals for each player. Here’s a look at forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who has become somewhat forgotten by Lakers fans after some recent injuries he has dealt with over the last two seasons.

Become a respectable 3-point shooter

While Vanderbilt is an effective and versatile defender at 6-foot-8 and 214 pounds, he’s very limited on offense. In particular, he’s a poor 3-point shooter.

Teams tend to leave him open in the corners and watch him throw up brick after brick. Since being traded to the Lakers midway through the 2022-23 season, he has made just 29.3% of his 3-point attempts, which has led to his playing time being slashed at times during the playoffs.

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He doesn’t need to become an excellent 3-point shooter, but if he just gets to around 35% from that distance, he could keep defenses honest.

This is the first time in a couple of years that Vanderbilt has been healthy during the offseason, so one can only hope he has been working on his outside shooting all summer long.

Bring consistent energy and effort

Vanderbilt has the ability to be an overall spark plug for the Lakers. But there are games where he seems a bit passive and doesn’t make much of an impact.

For every game where he makes a positive impact defensively and on the boards, he seems to have at least one other game where he has no more than two or three rebounds. Rebounding is an indication of one’s level of energy and effort, and so Vanderbilt needs to bring it more consistently in those two areas.

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Stay healthy

While Vanderbilt appeared in 216 of a possible 236 games during the 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, he has been snake-bit ever since.

He missed the first several weeks of the 2023-24 campaign due to a heel ailment, and just as he was starting to hit his stride after returning, he sustained a foot injury that kept him out until midway last season. As a result, he played in 65 of a possible 164 contests over the last two years.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers 3 goals: Jarred Vanderbilt can contribute more to the team