JJ Redick on why Jarred Vanderbilt hasn't played lately

One thing some Los Angeles Lakers fans may have noticed lately is that forward Jarred Vanderbilt hasn't appeared in the team's last six games. Vanderbilt's absence has coincided with LeBron James' return from sciatica, yet people have been wondering why head coach JJ Redick has decided to leave Vanderbilt on the bench.

Redick explained on Monday why the forward hasn't gotten on the court lately and said that Vanderbilt could return to game action.

“He’s been good. He’s been a pro, he’s been great in the most recent stay-ready (game) that we had this week. He was great. He’s been a great teammate, so no surprise there. I communicated to him before LeBron came back that there were certain things that he needed to be able to do consistently to play before LeBron came back, after LeBron came back, and that there was potentially gonna be a numbers crunch because we probably were gonna play a nine-man rotation and that was just the reality.

“Having said that, it doesn’t mean that he’s not gonna be back in the rotation at some point, whether we’re healthy or whether we’re missing a couple guys. When you’re winning games, it’s hard to re-do the rotation mid-winning streak. So we’re looking at everything and there were some lineup combinations when we were injured that we had to go away from and he was I guess caught up as a sort of innocent bystander in some ways with that. But I certainly have empathy for him and it’s not an easy situation to be in as a coach and certainly not a fun situation for him to be in as a player.”

The knock on Vanderbilt has always been has lack of offensive skills. A career 28.8% 3-point shooter, he has never developed an outside shot, and while he can occasionally contribute in transition as either a ball-handler or finisher, he seems practically useless in halfcourt situations on offense.

But he is a versatile and effective defender, not to mention a potent rebounder who can grab boards in bunches. His energy can come in handy for a Lakers team that lacks speed and athleticism.

So far this season, Vanderbilt is averaging 4.6 points on 44% overall shooting and 5.6 rebounds in 18.4 minutes a game.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on why Jarred Vanderbilt hasn't played lately