The news of Jarred Vanderbilt’s injury came as a huge shock to the Lakers on Thursday. Now, who could the team look to to take his place?
The Lakers may have suffered their toughest setback to date on Thursday in a season where several breaks haven’t gone their way. The purple and gold are in a risky scenario when it was revealed that Jarred Vanderbilt may miss many weeks or even the entire season due to an injury.
Less than a week remains until the trade deadline, which helps and harms the position. While it provides the Lakers with alternatives to replace Vando’s output, clubs are also cognizant of the haste with which they will have to operate.
Vando may be replaced in a variety of ways, but who should they consider? The Lakers might consider these five options in place of their Swiss army knife.
Bruce Brown
Although few of these names will be new, this one isn’t, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Lakers put more emphasis on it. While there can never be a perfect substitute for Vando’s abilities, Brown can cover some of those gaps with his many valuable skills.
He is a competent defender who can fill the vacuum on that side of the ball defensively. Even though he only shoots 33.9% from beyond the arc, offensively he’s a bit more conventional as a 3-and-D wing; yet, he provides ample support in other areas as well, shooting 47.8% from the field and 54.5% on 2-pointers this season.
According to Cleaning The Glass, he shoots 69% from the rim and is in the 73rd percentile among wings, indicating that he is also a very good finisher. In addition, he makes a good number of short mid-range jumpers, which are jumpers that are made from four feet out to the free throw line. His accuracy and frequency for wings are in the 67th and 98th percentiles, respectively.
Dorian Finney-Smith
Finney-Smith has some positive numbers when it comes to his corner 3-point shooting, which has been a problem for the Lakers this season. He is shooting 43% on those tries, which puts him in the 71st percentile, and is in the 94th percentile for frequency. In contrast, Taurean Prince and Vando rank first and second on the Lakers, respectively, in terms of how frequently they make corner 3-pointers, and they both shoot 35%.
Given their stature, both are strong rebounders, which is another way they could be able to cover a different need left by Vando.
Rui Hachimura
Not every candidate for Vando’s position has to be on the other team. Hachimura’s season hasn’t gone as planned after his strong postseason for a variety of reasons, some of which are within his control and others of which are outside of it.
Still, there isn’t really a guy on the club who is better equipped to replace Vando at this point. Hachimura’s two outstanding performances, which included his ten points in the fourth quarter against the Celtics, demonstrate his recent success in establishing his groove.
Although Hachimura and Vando are not the same player, Hachimura replaced Vando in the starting lineup for the team’s most important postseason matchup last year. Even if the squad’s defense will suffer, Vando’s offensive contributions to the team will not be replaced by anybody else on the roster.
Hachimura may see an uptick in minutes if no deal is made, and possibly even if one is—that is, if he isn’t one of the players sold away.
Gordon Hayward, Hornets
Though this last one is a touch strange, who doesn’t enjoy conjuring up possible scenarios? With his massive contract coming to an end, Hayward is a perfect buyout candidate and his contract with the Hornets is about to expire. A trade seems doubtful.
On the other hand, the Lakers need a wing and have an open slot on their roster. Given Hayward’s history of injuries (he has missed 21 of the Hornets’ 46 games this season alone), it would be a dangerous move, but if he can remain healthy, it would be a significant victory for the Lakers.
I don’t think this is in any way the Lakers’ Plan A given his injury concerns. Even if it succeeds, he isn’t exactly a stand-in for Vando, but he is an interesting alternative that could be worth trying.