The 2023 off-season has already seen some high-profile moves. One such move is the Lakers signing Jarred Vanderbilt to a 4-year, $48,000,000 contract extension. Vanderbilt officially signed his contract on September 15th, after which even LeBron James congratulated the young player. This will be the fourth team that Vanderbilt has played for in his 5-year stint in the NBA. Jarred who was first traded to the Lakers this February, had already been traded twice before (from the Jazz and the Timberwolves) by the same GM, Tim Connelly. But after a small stint with The Utah Jazz in 2022, Vanderbilt was traded to the Lakers, where he finds himself today.
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The signing of Jarred Vanderbilt made LeBron James a happy man. Jarred last season surprised everyone by making an impact on The Lakers as soon as he put on the purple and the gold. Though Jareed didn’t score insane numbers, the young forward always made clutch shots, defended well, and even collected some critical rebounds for the team.
Jarred Vanderbilt talks about being traded twice by the same GM
Jarred Vanderbilt has already been on 4 squads since being drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft. The defensive savant was picked up by the Orlando Magic, but his rights were later transferred to the Denver Nuggets. Vanderbilt would play his rookie season with the Nuggets, before getting shipped off the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jarred grew into the 3-and-D, guy we all know in Minnesota. After playing three seasons with the Timberwolves, Jarred would again be traded, this time to the Utah Jazz. The ironic thing is that Vanderbilt was traded to and from the Timberwolves by the same General Manager, Tim Connelly.
Jarred who was recently a guest on the Tidal League podcast, commented on the situation, saying:
“[The Timberwolves] got a new President/GM. The same one that came from [the Nuggets]… He traded me to Minnesota, then he got to Minnesota, traded me again to [the Jazz]. I’m like ‘damn.'”
However, his trade to the Lakers turned out to be a boon, as the young forward shinned when the lights were the brightest. During the playoffs, Jarred not only guarded the opposition extremely well but was also active on the boards and made important shots in the clutch, especially some late-game threes.
Pat Bev believes Jared should have tested free agency
Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt are decently close, as the duo played on The Minnesota Timberwolves together. Beverley wasn’t too thrilled about Jarred signing a $48,000,000 extension with The Lakers. Patrick believes that Jarred should have tested out free agency instead, where the forward could have made over $60,000,000.
Talking about the incident on his podcast, Patrick said:
“As soon as I hear he sign it, I call him and I say, ‘Why the f*ck you sign that damn deal?’ and he goes, ‘I can’t turn down $50,000,000!’ So I say, ‘It ain’t $50,000,000 it’s $48,000,000!’”
The Lakers have made some great off-season moves. It would be interesting to see how the new squad pans out this year.
