Lakers Notes: Vanderbilt, Smart, Doncic, More

After playing in each of the Lakers‘ first 14 games of the season, veteran forward Jarred Vanderbilt has been a DNP-CD for the team’s past six contests. Vanderbilt has dealt with numerous injuries that have limited his availability in recent years, but he’s healthy now, prompting head coach JJ Redick to explain earlier this week why the 26-year-old isn’t in the rotation.

“He’s been a pro. He’s been great,” Redick said (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN). “In the most recent stay-ready (game) that we had this week, he was great. He’s been a great teammate, so no surprise there.

“I had communicated to him, even before LeBron (James) came back, that there were certain things that he needed to be able to do consistently to play before LeBron came back, after LeBron came back. And that there potentially was going to be a numbers crunch because we were probably going to play a nine-man rotation. And that was just the reality.

Redick went on to say that he didn’t want to tweak the rotation too much during a hot streak – the Lakers had won seven games in a row prior to Monday’s loss to Phoenix – but that Vanderbilt could eventually find himself regaining a more regular role, especially if the team loses anyone due to an injury.

We have more on the Lakers:

• Lakers guard Marcus Smart (lower back injury management) will miss a fourth straight game on Thursday in Toronto, while star guard Luka Doncic sits out for personal reasons. According to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops, Doncic has returned to his home country of Slovenia for the birth of his second child. His status for games in Boston on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday is unclear.
• Law Murray of The Athletic and Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times take stock of where the Lakers stand at the one-quarter mark of the 2025/26 season. At 15-5, the team is on pace for a 60-win season, but has a relatively modest net rating of +3.1, the 12th-best mark in the NBA. The Lakers’ record is buoyed by the fact that they’re the only team without a loss in a “clutch” game, defined as a game within five points with fewer than five minutes remaining — Los Angeles is 6-0 in that situation.
• Within a look at a few potential contenders trying to challenge Oklahoma City in the Western Conference, Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports notes that three-point shooting is an area the Lakers may look to address on the trade market. Los Angeles currently ranks 25th in the NBA in made three-pointers per game.
• If Giannis Antetokounmpo were to request a trade out of Milwaukee, could the Lakers make a legitimate play for him? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers that question and outlines what a trade package centered around breakout guard Austin Reaves might look like.