This is interesting, a knee effusion? Water on the knee could be a minor thing, or it could indicate a meniscus issue too. Well...I didn't expect him back until January myself , about a month ago. Welp...This new wrinkle, at least means that, the feet aren't bothering him. I do wonder about he and Wood, getting injured during rehab. Are our training staff pushing them to hard?
yeah, don't buy the "you can't fully evaluate" stuff at this point. you can. vando is not on the roster. adjust accordingly.
And even if he was ready to go tomorrow at 100%, it doesn't change what we need. Is he a bruising center? No. So we'd still need one of those. Is he a two way wing? No. So we'd still need one of those. Is he enough defense and athleticism at the wing position all by his lonesome? No. So we'd still need that. Is he a downhill scorer who can create for himself? No. So we'd still be in the market for that. Is he a roster consolidation piece that morphs multiple of our lesser players into a better one and clears up a roster spot? No. He is not.
I'm out on Vando. This is just way too long to go without this guy. Also done with Rui if we can get a better player for him.
Vando's one of my favorite NBA players, and gawd have I missed him! The news of water on the knee, now, and "January" return: at least it's not either foot? Fer crissakes... When (if?) he comes back, I know myself: he'll be super-rusty, then get back up to speed and I'll constantly worry about him re-injuring himself. His defense was sooooo good. Imma hope for the best when he returns. (If?)
agree. needed one for two years now. i just don't think this is really possible without giving up reaves or knecht or both. there are actually very few elite two-way wings, and even backup quality two-way wings aren't that easy to come by. i think we can survive without adding one if we address other areas. i actually think it is, tbh. i just don't think he can stay on the floor. it's been a career-long issue. this is easier to come by than the elite two-way wing, but still not easy. again, when healthy, i felt like he was the key to allowing us to play the dlo/reaves backcourt with the starters, and that group was VERY good. without him, we couldn't play that group. i realize i'm probably overrating him, but i think vando was just incredibly valuable to us when he was healthy. he just never is, and we can't expect it going forward.
djj got close to vet min the year we signed gabe, lol. but we thought we had vando, who's a better defender and bigger, and until this year, djj was basically just as bad a shooter as vando.
sure, if you only watched that series. overall, he was a sub-vando player, even in dallas. he's actually just now having his best year in the nba.
i dont get why we're discussing comps to vando, i only brought up DJJ as an example of a cheapish 3/D guy who actually is decent from 3s.....Vando barely useful corner 3 guy and nearly 2yrs in hes still out, it a time to move on, the best ability is availability
we couldn't have afforded him last year, and the year before, vando hadn't died yet. you don't need an army of these guys on your roster, like many seem to think. one probably does just fine, tbh. we thought we had one.
One definitely isn't enough, unless that one is a DPOY level guy, especially when your one is someone with chronic injuries and is only good for 20 minutes a game when healthy. 4/5 the top 5 Eastern teams have multiple. Cavs don't, but they have twelve players between 6-5 - 6-9, they're all on the younger side, athletic and have the twin towers as the back line. I'm not going into depth on the rest of the East cause it's a wasteland. In the West... -OKC has a bazillion and like the Cavs, they're all young, long, athletic and switchy. -Houston has a couple who fit the bill, but their entire roster has a better defensive rating than our best defensive rated player -- AD (I'm excluding Traore due to sample size). That's the thing, if you're a young team who will buy into team effort, you don't need standouts necessarily. The older the team, the bigger the need for these standout defensive wings. -Mavs aren't quite there, Washington is their guy. I think they have the horses on the roster just aren't using them right. Marshall, OMP, and Spence can be those guys for them. -Grizz don't but have JJJ and then defense at the guard positions and then a lot of young athletes. Again, youth can Bandaid a lot. -Warriors, Clippers, and Wolves got them. -Suns like us are old and don't defend. -Nuggets don't except for when they play us. -Spurs have it conceptually but haven't learned defensive principles yet. -Kings don't defend. Blazers have them but are trying to capture the Flagg. - Jazz don't have them but are also pre-tanking. - Pelicans got them but injuries have gutted them. They had so many they had to give one to the Hawks for free.
i just think there's more than one way to build a roster. the clippers have had success stacking athletic wings, but plenty of teams have been successful without doing that. having none is a problem, though, and that's where we're at currently.
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2024/12/10/24317210/lakers-injury-report-analysis-jarred-vanderbilt-knee-effusion-setback-return-date