Jarred Vanderbilt

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Darius Soriano

The Lakers wing rotation behind LeBron James was headlined by Taurean Prince (49 starts), who turned in a solid campaign while moving between the starting lineup and a reserve role later in the year. Scoring 8.9 points a game, Prince got off to a bit of a slow start as a shooter, but found his stride and finished the year knocking down 39.6% of his three-pointers during the regular season. Defensively, Prince had a heavy ask as a starter, often being deployed on the opposition's top wing scorer, but slotted into a more natural role as a reserve where he was able to defend combo forwards and serve as a supplementary option against team's top talents.

Beyond Prince, the rotation was mired by injury struggles that led to both inconsistent availability and playing time as the coaches leaned more into their guards to boost the team's perimeter production. Jarred Vanderbilt began the preseason as a presumed starter, but began the year on the injured list with bursitis and made just 29 appearances (6 starts) during the regular season, ultimately having his campaign cut ended by a foot sprain in a February 1st win over the Celtics. Similarly, Cam Reddish made just 48 appearances (26 starts) with ankle injuries limiting his ability to suit up and/or finish games.

With both Vanderbilt and Reddish injured, Max Christie was able to make inroads on his overall development and growth as both a shooter and defender but ultimately lost playing time to his more experienced teammates. While rookie Maxwell Lewis spent most of his time in the G-League getting needed reps with the South Bay Lakers.

By The Numbers2108: Number of minutes Prince played this regular season, the 5th-highest mark on the team and making him one of only five Lakers who played over 2,000 minutes for the season. And while this was the 2nd-highest minutes total of his career, Prince was durable throughout, appearing in 78 games, trailing only Austin Reaves (82).

109.4: Defensive rating with Vanderbilt on the floor this season, the best mark on the team of players who played more than 300 minutes. The Lakers sorely missed Vanderbilt's combination of point-of-attack tenacity and back-line rebounding and rim protection over the course of the 53 games he missed due to injury.

13: Number of games Reddish tallied two or more steals, including a season-high of five against the Kings on November 15th. November was a particularly impactful month for Reddish as a ballhawk, as he tallied 24 steals and 45 deflections in the month, the 7th most in each category in the NBA.

Moving Forward: Due to the various contract statuses within this group, there is much uncertainty regarding who will be back in a Lakers uniform next season. Prince heads into the offseason as an unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year deal last summer, Reddish has a player option on the 2nd season of his two-year contract he signed last year, and Christie is a restricted free agent after completing the two-year contract he signed after being drafted out of the 2nd round.

As for Vanderbilt and Lewis, both will surely benefit from an offseason to prepare to be contributors next season. Vanderbilt, though cleared medically right before the end of the Lakers 1st round series vs. the Nuggets, can use the offseason to get fully healthy and continue to refine his offensive game in an NBA that continues to value shooting and floor spacing from every position. While Lewis will look to build on his season of development in the G-League and catapult him into the summer where he will surely be a key member of the Lakers summer league squad where he can continue to grow and get some needed reps in.

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Jarred Vanderbilt has been diagnosed with a right mid-foot sprain. He will be re-evaluated by team doctors in approximately 3-4 weeks.

Jarred Vanderbilt

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