![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788639708_165_los-angeles-lakers-end-of-season-media-availability-el-segundo-california-1-e1788344340418.jpg\")
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EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to the media during a press conference at UCLA Health Training Center on May 12, 2026 in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Luke Hales\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
We are racing toward the start of the 2026-27 season, but the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> still sit here with unchecked boxes on their to-do list.\u00a0<\/p>\n The move for Walker Kessler<\/a> was ambitious, and the many free agents signings further demonstrated the Lakers\u2019 intent to build a title-contending roster around superstar point guard Luka Doncic<\/a>. But for as much movement as the franchise has seen this summer, one could legitimately argue that the roster should be set in virtually every meaningful way.<\/p>\n Instead, the Lakers still don\u2019t have someone they can point to as a Day 1 starter at power forward, and if Kessler happens to miss time next season, then oh well.\u00a0<\/p>\n L.A. should, at the very least, have long had an answer at power forward when considering what the team brought in Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a> for a few years ago. But, believe it or not, Vanderbilt\u2019s situation in Los Angeles seems as dicey as any player toward the bottom of the Lakers roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lakers Still Pushing to Part Ways With Forward<\/p>\n Vanderbilt, 27, can be a highly-impactful defender when healthy. Although he bounced back in the health department last season, Vanderbilt has been largely unreliable in recent seasons. That, perhaps, has some to do with why the Lakers have been looking to trade Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been trying (to make a trade),\u201d Heavy NBA insider Sean Deveney reported<\/a>. \u201cIn fact, with 16 guys on the roster, they\u2019re still trying. They\u2019d most like Jarred Vanderbilt to go, as he has two years and $26 million on his contract. They\u2019re likely to play Vanderbilt this season, rehab his value and see if they can deal him off later. But only having three second-round picks (none until 2031) and one pick swap (in 2032) to trade hurts their chances at persuading another team to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Deveney spoke to a Western Conference executive, who revealed the Lakers have made attempts to move Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tricky for them because they\u2019re up against it, they don\u2019t really have anything that can get another team to take on bad money,\u201d the executive said of the Lakers. \u201cThey tried all summer, and they will keep trying. But you can\u2019t get something for nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vanderbilt\u2019s Contract Makes Him a Tough Sell<\/p>\n If Vanderbilt can stay in the lineup, there is reason to believe that he can help deliver what the Lakers are looking for at power forward. But with the team trying to deal him, it seems they have decided Vanderbilt isn\u2019t the answer.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old is still owed roughly $26 million over the next two seasons, which is no insignificant amount for a player who has appeared in just 130 games since the start of the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n That noted, if the Lakers are unable to hammer out a deal for Vanderbilt this offseason, the veteran swingman will get an opportunity to get back on track and either find his place in the rotation or boost his trade value enough ahead of the trade deadline to make it easier for the Lakers to move him.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 12: Head coach JJ Redick of the Los Angeles Lakers speaks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":["post-828852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117220301487834959","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/chicago-bulls-v-los-angeles-lakers-los-angeles-california-march-12-5.jpg\")
GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA \u2013 MARCH 12: Jarred Vanderbilt #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks to pass during the first half of a game against the Chicago Bulls<\/a> at Crypto.com Arena on March 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n