The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into draft week with a 53-win season in the rearview and a roster that could use some tweaking. One name that keeps popping up in trade chatter is Jarred Vanderbilt. And for good reason — he’s a 27-year-old forward who can guard multiple positions and crash the boards. But there’s a catch that might scare off potential trade partners.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, the issue isn’t Vanderbilt’s game. It’s his contract. Specifically, that $13.3 million player option for the 2027-28 season. Woike described it as basically a lock to be picked up, which makes the deal hard to swallow for most teams.
Here’s the thing. Vanderbilt averaged just 4.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game last season. He shot 47.1 percent from the floor. Those numbers don’t exactly scream “must-have.” What he does bring is defensive versatility and a willingness to do the dirty work. But in today’s NBA, teams want that plus value on the cap sheet. Vanderbilt’s contract doesn’t offer that.
Woike broke it down pretty clearly. In a vacuum, you’d be paying another team to take that salary. Draft picks, players, whatever. To get back an established player on a team-friendly deal, the Lakers would have to meet the asking price and then cover the cost of dumping their own guys.
That said, Woike did leave the door open a crack. He noted that if the Lakers get creative — look at some of the bad contracts floating around the league and try to find a player who actually fits their needs — they could make something work. It’s not impossible. It’s just complicated.
And it’s not like the Lakers are desperate. They finished fourth in the Western Conference with a 53-29 record. They have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. They’re trying to win now. So any move they make has to be a net positive, not just a salary dump for the sake of change.
Vanderbilt played 65 games this season. He’s durable enough. He’s young enough. The question is whether a team out there values his defense enough to take on a contract that’s basically guaranteed to cost them $13.3 million in two years.
For now, the Lakers are likely keeping their options open. The draft starts Tuesday. Things could move fast after that. Or maybe Vanderbilt stays put. Either way, his contract is the elephant in the room, and it’s not going anywhere.
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