Jarred Vanderbilt Discussion: The Vandalorian

pika1708 · Apr 9, 2026 at 3:01 PM

Panko said: ↑

Well, he did give this caveat, which makes sense:

For example, what grade does Antoni get for the 45 win 2013 season? B or C?

No, clearly it's a big fat F. He destroyed the rest of Kobe's career. Kobe was still 1st team All Star and 5th in MVP voting that year. He could possibly have won 1 more chip at age 34+, but he was basically done for after that.

Back to JJ, I like him a lot. And I have wanted to believe in him more for the past 1.5 years. But he has shown no growth in terms of managing minutes, from last year's playoffs 2nd half no rest for starters fiasco. He ran the Big 3 into the ground, and yes, it is on him for not resting Luka in a game he was showing clear signs of injury or possible injury. Put that aside for a second. There is no way he should have let the Big 3 play the Miami back to back, even if they wanted to. 3rd game in 4 nights, while playing Luka & Austin 40 min/game and old man LeBron 36. He had Austin averaging 40 min/gm for 10 games, leading to his injury. He's managed the Big 3 very poorly, managed Rui and Vando atrociously, and not developed young guys or bench players.

Again - I like him and want to believe in him, and he can win regular season games - but he's been bad.

Back full circle to Vando - Vando is an extremely useful player when used correctly, and he has helped the Lakers in many games. He is overall positive when used correctly, even if he has to be used in a certain way with certain lineups. But to treat him the way that JJ has treated him is just poor management, even if it's management of a bench player. He's an 8th-9th man playing 12-20 min/gm, shoring up our defense and not taking the offense when used correctly.
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Yeah he's awful managing minutes, agree there

He needs to improve there but it's very unfair to give a negative note. Season wasn't easy and in January nobody believed in this team

Next season is a clean slate with all the tools for a deeper roster. If he keeps the same pattern, it's a problem.
I think he has learned from his mistakes. He's very stubborn, but this year we saw more versatility on defense (relied too much on switching before), offense became more dynamic, things he learned from last year. He's young and if willing to learn, he'll only get better

karacha · Apr 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM

^
Agree with everything.

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Jarred Vanderbilt Discussion: The Vandalorian

pika1708 - Lakers Starter -

karacha Moderator Staff Member

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