EL SEGUNDO — Lakers coach JJ Redick acknowledged multiple times throughout the 2024-25 season that they didn’t have a traditional defensive perimeter “stopper” on the roster.
And because of that, his team would have to rely on the effort, schemes and techniques within a team defense to have success on that end of the court – especially after trading Max Christie and Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the deal that brought Luka Doncic to Los Angeles.
But Redick hopes that Marcus Smart, one of the team’s free agent signings, and the improved health of forward Jarred Vanderbilt will add a dimension to the team’s defense this season that they lacked for significant stretches of last season.
“With a healthy Vando and hopefully a healthy Marcus, our ability to put more pressure on the basketball earlier in the defensive possession will be a real thing,” Redick said after Wednesday’s practice.
Vanderbilt, 26, was one of the Lakers’ best defenders last season, but he was once again limited – physically, and in the number of games and minutes he played (36 games; 16.1 minutes per game) – because of foot ailments he dealt with for the second consecutive season.
The 6-foot-8, 228-pounder played just 29 games in 2023-24. He was sidelined for the first 20 games of the season because of inflammation in his left heel and sat out of the final 32 regular-season games and the playoffs because of a sprained right midfoot injury. Vanderbilt had surgery on both feet during the 2024 offseason, leading to him missing the first 42 games of 2024-25 before making his season debut on Jan. 25.
After multiple offseasons hampered by foot injuries, Vanderbilt relished having a fully healthy offseason this past summer for the first time in a few years.
“It feels great being able to have a full summer under my belt. I was able to really work on my game, work on my body, and just having that confidence going into the year instead of playing catch up,” he said earlier in the week. “Being able to be a part of training camp early, and it’s a different level of approach and preparation when you already put the work in and being able to start fresh.”
During the portion of Wednesday’s practice that was open to media members, Vanderbilt, who has shot 28.8% from 3-point range (0.6 attempts per game) in his seven-year NBA career and has been a player opponents haven’t had to worry about defensively, also appeared to have tweaked the mechanics to his outside shot.
“It’s gotten much better,” said forward Jake LaRavia, who was shooting alongside Vanderbilt after practice. “I know early on in my career, we didn’t respect him as a shooter, but fair to say that he can shoot the ball very well now. He’s been hitting shots. I don’t know if he tweaked something, it looks really good now and it’s going in.”
Redick sees a significant physical difference in Vanderbilt compared to how he ended last season.
“It’s night and day the way Vando is moving right now, even from when we finished the season,” Redick said. “His growth in body mechanics this summer is significant and it’s evident in the first two days of camp.”
Smart has been limited as a modified participant during training camp so far because of Achilles tendinopathy, but he is expected to be fine by the end of the week, according to Redick.
But there are significant expectations of what Smart, the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, will bring defensively when healthy after being a three-time All-Defense first-team honoree (2019-20, ’22) during his nine seasons with the Boston Celtics (2014-23).
Smart, 31, played 34 combined games for the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards last season, missing time with a variety of injuries. That came after being limited to 20 games for the Grizzlies in 2023-24.
“I’ve talked with JJ and what he expects from me on both ends, especially the defensive end,” Smart said. “It’s everything I’ve been doing my whole career. It’s nothing new and I remember the first thing he told me was ‘hey, if we’re going to get the Celtics’ Marcus Smart, that’s who we want, that’s who we need. And we need you to be that person and be who you are.’ So for me, it’s just coming out and giving everything I got on this court and leaving it out there every night.”
And while the Lakers still might have similar defensive principles, they hope Smart and Vanderbilt will more them stingier on that end of the court after finishing last season No. 17 in defensive rating (113.8).
“As far as our shift presentation and rules, I don’t necessarily think we’re going to change a whole lot,” Redick said. “There’s always tweaks. There’s tweaks to language. There’s tweaks to techniques and stuff. There’s a little bit of that. But certainly those guys gives us another weapon defensively.”
