The Lakers will give an official update on Jarred Vanderbilt at the start of next week; in the meanwhile, the most recent unofficial news is the first that hasn’t been primarily positive.
Even though there wasn’t much positive news to offer, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin provided one of the most insightful updates on Vando at the team’s Friday practice.
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Now, if you’re going to take the optimistic view, a lot of that might alter when the Lakers give him another look at the start of next week. Since mid-April has been the goal date, it’s not completely implausible that he’s still on the same path.
But it’s difficult to conclude from that tweet with optimism about his prospects of making a quick comeback. He is not going to be back if he isn’t leaping or running, much less taking part in contact exercises. And the Lakers have just five games left in the regular season.
For better or worse, we do know that Vando will play through discomfort if it means returning to the court. He played when he was last active after an injury.despite early suffering because he thought the squad had a chance to win the championship and wanted to do all in his power to assist them go as close to or over the edge as possible.
But the Lakers have committed to him for a number of years, so they may need to give it some real thought as to whether or not it would be best for everyone if he returned this season. If nothing else, there shouldn’t be any pressure to send him back right away. It will be difficult for the Lakers to integrate him because they are playing excellent basketball without him.
Although he elevates the Lakers’ potential, we seen from his last comeback that he cannot play when hurt. Before he returns, there need to be no question as to his complete health.
This is a lot of conjecture based on a single tweet, but nothing about it was enjoyable to read and ought to raise some concerns.
