The Los Angeles Lakers may not be 100 percent at the start of training camp with a key contributor still recovering from an injury.
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers have explored options in potentially upgrading their roster this summer, they've been relatively quiet. Los Angeles hasn't made a big move and there's reason to believe that they will enter the season with the intent on seeing how this roster looks before exploring any of those other options. At this point, with a thinned-out trade market, it's hard to blame the Lakers.
Nevertheless, at least part of that plan did take a bit of a hit. According to a recent report, there's no guarantee that key contributor Jarred Vanderbilt will be 100 percent ready at the start of training camp. Vanderbilt was plagued by injuries last season, missing more than half the year with a heel injury early and then a foot injury that ended his year.
The Lakers open training camp in three weeks but there's still no guarantee that Vanderbilt will be ready to go once they report. That could be viewed as a huge bummer for a Lakers team that desperately needs to find a way to remain healthy this season to be any level of successful.
How much of an impact will Jarred Vanderbilt make for the Los Angeles Lakers?
Whether you view Vanderbilt as a game-changer or much of a difference-maker for the Lakers or not is irrelevant. The bottom line is that at least part of the team's reluctance or patience to make a move this summer revolves around their belief that the return of Vanderbilt will positive impact the roster. Whether the Lakers are proven right or not is irrelevant, but that's the truth.
If the Lakers are going to bounce back after a lackluster season, there's no question that they need to be healthy. There are other arguments to be made that they also have to make some additions or upgrades to their roster but on a foundational level, health is going to be of the utmost importance for a veteran team that is looking to keep pace with the younger and more talented contenders in the Western Conference.
Not having Vanderbilt around for the start of the season wouldn't be a terrible blow to the Lakers but it certainly wouldn't be considering starting the year off on the right foot either.