The Lakers have officially guaranteed Jarred Vanderbilt’s contract
After reports indicated they would do so before NBA free agency kicked off, the Lakers have officially guaranteed Jarred Vanderbilt’s contract.
While the Lakers had a busy weekend to kick off free agency, one of the moves that went under the radar involved Jarred Vanderbilt. After reports heading into free agency indicated the Lakers intended on bringing back Vando, the move was officially done.
According to Spotrac, Vando’s $4.6 million contract was guaranteed for just $300,000 before June 30. After that date, the contract became fully guaranteed.
Interestingly, again according to Spotrac, Vanderbilt’s contract has roughly $200,000 in incentives. Of that amount, $145,000 is tied to his defensive rebound percentage. He had a similar incentive last season and while there are no details about what the exact number to reach is, Vanderbilt did not meet the mark. It is classified as an unlikely incentive in his contract.
After being considered by some as a toss-in as part of the trade centered around Russell Westbrook and D’Angelo Russell, Vanderbilt immediately made an impact for the Lakers and became a vital role player.
It immediately became clear he was going to be a long-term piece of the Lakers not just through this season. Once the postseason rolled around, he was a valuable defensive piece that had big games against both Ja Morant and the Grizzlies and Steph Curry and the Warriors.
As our own Cooper Halpern noted in the season recap of Vanderbilt, he ranked among the best perimeter defenders in the league:
As the least notable name in the Lakers’ blockbuster deal, Vanderbilt’s season as a Laker was an undeniable success, making a name for himself as the premier perimeter stopper on the NBA’s best defensive team. According to the B-Ball Index, Vanderbilt generated steals, deflections, and rebounds at a better clip than at least 85% of “Wing Stoppers,” serving as evidence of being a creator of chaos on defense.
He still has negatives to work on in his game, namely on the offensive end. But considering his contract is still under $5 million this year, it’s a bargain deal that the Lakers are going to continue to reap the benefits of and could even more if Vando develops even more this summer.
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