![\"](\"https:\/\/fadeawayworld.net\/.image\/t_share\/MjEyNDExNTEyNTU0MjY4MTY5\/los-angeles-lakers-forward-jarred-vanderbilt-dribbles-against-the-golden-state-warriors.jpg\")
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The Los Angeles Lakers are actively searching for win-now trades around the NBA to help boost the 25-18 franchise further up the standings and into contention.<\/p>\n
The team is still a few moves away from being able to hang with the best squads in the NBA. As a result, young players like Jarred Vanderbilt could be available for the right price.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old forward recently returned to full-time action after nearly two seasons of injury troubles. As a result, the forward doesn’t have an attractive trade market according to Jovan Buha on his podcast, with the Lakers potentially needing to add draft compensation to move him.<\/p>\n
“If Vando is in a deal, the Lakers are going to have to attach a first. That’s separate of whatever the other player is worth. … There’s still a perception of Vando of what he is in the playoffs, the contract, and the injury history. So as I say, two things can be true at once.”<\/p>\n
“I think for the Lakers, and what they need, he has a lot of value. And that’s a tough contract, I think, to trade. But from a league-wide perspective, I don’t think teams are gnawing at themselves to try to get Vanderbilt. He’s probably a guy the Lakers need to ride out at least the rest of the season and then explore in the offseason, depending on how things go.”<\/em><\/p>\n This likely indicates the Lakers are stuck with Vanderbilt. There’s no reason for the Lakers to add draft compensation to dump a contract that averages around $11 million per season.<\/p>\n Given the team has had defensive struggles, they’re better off keeping Vanderbilt in their rotation as a specialist. He’s also arguably the best ‘big-man’ option they have outside Anthony Davis.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt recently returned to the court in the Lakers 118-108 win over the Golden State Warriors. He put up two points (1-2 FG), four rebounds, and three steals, showing how he can reinforce the Lakers’ defense both on the perimeter and the post.<\/p>\n The Lakers have already made a win-now move for Dorian Finney-Smith, although it’s not paying off offensively just yet, Finney-Smith has also shone defensively.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt and Finney-Smith looked great on the court together as a defensive tandem, especially alongside other plus defenders such as Max Christie and Davis.<\/p>\n Vanderbilt is too valuable to what the Lakers want on the court to be moved to facilitate a deal for a minor upgrade. Given how stingy the Lakers have been with making draft assets available for win-now trades, there’s a slim chance they’ll use a pick just to dump Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n We can’t say for sure that Vanderbilt is safe, as he might be included in a larger package to facilitate the acquisition of a star.<\/p>\n But the Lakers don’t seem to be scouring the market that aggressively. Both Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent will likely be trade candidates before Vanderbilt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Los Angeles Lakers are actively searching for win-now trades around the NBA to help boost the 25-18 franchise further up the standings and into contention. The… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n