The Lakers will be without Jarred Vanderbilt early in this season, but when will the wing return to the court?
It wouldn’t be a Lakers season without a notable injury, especially in the beginning of the season. While the Lakers largely made it through training camp injury-free, there was one very notable exception to that in Jarred Vanderbilt.
Vando played in the opening game of the preseason before being sidelined with what was initially called left heel soreness. After initial optimism that he would be ready for opening night, that faded with head coach Darvin Ham eventually ruling him out for the preseason.
After then missing the first game of the season, Vanderbilt’s injury designation was changed to left heel bursitis ahead of the team’s game against the Suns in their home opener. One day later, the Lakers ruled Vanderbilt out for at least two weeks before he would be re-evaluated.
While the Lakers have the depth to withstand an injury to Vanderbilt, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to lose a key role player before the season even begins. The question now will be how long Vanderbilt is out.
Now, for however long Vanderbilt is out, we will be tracking his return-to-play timeline and providing every update we get through the team, media reports and more at this page. So bookmark this story and stay tuned to Silver Screen and Roll for more updates on when Davis can get back on the hardwood and try to help the Lakers push their way back into playoff (or play-in) contention.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.