New Jarred Vanderbilt Injury News Should End His Lakers Career

The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of an up-and-down season. After an unconvincing win at Utah and a blowout loss at Minnesota, the Lakers are 12-9 for the season, the same record they were with Darvin Ham at the helm through 21 games last year.

The biggest problem for the Lakers is their big man rotation. The frontcourt depth is non-existent with injuries to Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Behind Anthony Davis, the Lakers need to rely on unproven big men like Armel Traore and Christian Koloko.

The already bleak situation took an even more depressing turn on Tuesday when NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Vanderbilt suffered another setback in his return and will miss another month.

Lakers News: Jarred Vanderbilt's Return Further Delayed

This is a disappointing development for Vanderbilt who has been out since early February. He missed all but 29 games last season and has yet to make his season debut. It was previously reported that Vando's ramp-up process was going slower than anticipated and this update further confirms the bleak nature of his recovery.

Unfortunately for the 25-year-old combo big, this likely suggests the end of his tenure with the Lakers. The team desperately needs more frontcourt depth and Vanderbilt is one of their few trade chips. His salary of $10.7 million for this year makes him a prime salary-matching asset next to draft capital.

The Lakers can trade three first-round picks to upgrade their roster. Vanderbilt, alongside Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and D'Angelo Russell, is an ideal trade candidate if the Lakers want to improve before the deadline.

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