Austin Reaves is day-to-day and Jarred Vanderbilt is targeting play by beginning of the season
After practice, Lakers coach JJ Redick shared injury updates, stating that Austin Reaves is day-to-day, Jarred Vanderbilt is targeting play by the beginning of the season and Armel Traore will be out for multiple days.
The Lakers are back home after a one-game road trip to the Midwest, which resulted in a 107-102 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Austin Reaves was unavailable for that road game and Lakers coach JJ Redick updated the media after practice on Saturday on his injury status, saying he is day-to-day.
JJ Redick said Austin Reaves is “day-to-day” he participated in the non-contact parts of practice. No update on if he’ll play or not on Tuesday.
— Edwin Garcia (@ECreates88) October 12, 2024
Redick also stated that Lakers two-way player Armel Traore would be out for five days due to swelling in his thumb. Coach also said Jarred Vanderbilt has had no setbacks and is continuing to ramp up. The hope is that Vando will be ready for the beginning of the season.
JJ Redick says Jarred Vanderbilt’s ramp up process remains “on target” for being available sometime around the beginning of the season. He later said he has designed a zone defensive package LAL will have in its arsenal that is specifically catered to Vando pic.twitter.com/6uFMlRMGRq
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 12, 2024
JJ Redick says Armel Traore will be out "maybe five days." He has swelling in his thumb on his shooting hand.
— Edwin Garcia (@ECreates88) October 12, 2024
While no injury is good, Reaves' status shouldn't cause fans to panic. Redick said Reaves participated in non-contact work and didn't rule him out for Tuesday's game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas.
The Vanderbilt news is a bit more of a mixed bag.
Okay, he's in the ramp-up protocol, but when can he participate in all aspects of practice? How far away is he from that and what does "beginning of the season" mean? Are we talking about opening night or the first month? One of those answers is far more reassuring than the other.
No one denies Vanderbilt's importance on this team. Redick even discussed his defensive impact in zone coverages after Saturday's practice.
"We've had some fun with one of our zones,” Redick said. We haven't practiced it, but we've used it in-game a couple of times. "We have another version of the zone that features him… I'm looking forward to experimenting with that and probably won't get to experiment in the preseason.
"I think a lot of the stuff that we're emphasizing, in terms of crashing, being disruptive and physical on defense, picking guys up full court, our switching groups, he's going to do a lot of really good things for us. Even with Cam [Reddish] being back, you see someone who has size and length, a bigger wing, that can do some things defensively. That's exciting, so to have two of those guys essentially in the lineup is really cool."
Vanderbilt spoke on Media Day, saying he felt "great" heading into training camp, but his health was a question mark all last year and still is as we inch towards the regular season.
Vando only played in 29 games last year, dealing with a foot injury. This offseason, he had surgeries on both feet.
Hopefully, he can return soon and we can hear him making more substantial progress, like participating in the full-contact parts of practice as we get closer to opening night.
If, by late October, we are still hearing that he's ramping up, but no updated timeline is given, it'll be fair for fans to raise an eyebrow at these updates.
For now, patience is needed while we await Vanderbilt's return to the court.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.