{"id":130285,"date":"2025-12-14T11:46:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T11:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130285"},"modified":"2025-12-14T11:46:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T11:46:41","slug":"report-the-los-angeles-lakers-continue-to-struggle-defensively-forcing-the-coaching-staff-to-explore-new-solutions-head-coach-jj-redick-revealed-that-jarred-vanderbilt-could-be-reinserted-into-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130285","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle defensively, forcing the coaching staff to explore new solutions. Head coach JJ Redick revealed that Jarred Vanderbilt could be reinserted into the rotation. The move may signal a shift in the team\u2019s defensive priorities."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"has-video wp-caption \">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2248809397-e1764777451964.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2248809397-e1764777451964.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2248809397-e1764777451964.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2248809397-e1764777451964.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lakers, JJ Redick\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-img-load-time=\"1708\" data-dom-ready-time=\"2181\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Los Angeles Lakers could bring\u00a0Jarred Vanderbilt\u00a0back into the rotation amid their\u00a0ongoing defensive struggles, per head coach JJ Redick.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0Philadelphia 76ers\u00a0last week.<\/p>\n<p>After the\u00a0Spurs exposed the Lakers\u2019 glaring defensive issues in the NBA Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday, Redick is contemplating bringing Vanderbilt, an excellent perimeter defender, back into the rotation.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>JJ Redick Mulls Big Change<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIf this continues, he\u2019ll definitely get his opportunities,\u201d Redick said on Friday of the Lakers bringing Vando back into the rotation, via\u00a0Thuc Nhi Nguyen of LA Times.<\/p>\n<p>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\u00a0rank No. 22 in defense, have also conceded over 130 points to lottery-bound teams such as the\u00a0New Orleans Pelicans\u00a0and\u00a0LA Clippers, and over 140 points to the\u00a0Utah Jazz.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\"><em>\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<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">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<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\"><em>\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<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Lakers Face Huge Decision<\/h2>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">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<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">If Vanderbilt returns to the rotation, the Lakers could potentially cut short the playing time of Jake LaRaVia and Vincent.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">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<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">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<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Lakers could bring\u00a0Jarred Vanderbilt\u00a0back into the rotation amid their\u00a0ongoing defensive struggles, per head coach JJ Redick. Vanderbilt started the season as a big part&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>REPORT: The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle defensively, forcing the coaching staff to explore new solutions. Head coach JJ Redick revealed that Jarred Vanderbilt could be reinserted into the rotation. 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