Three Key Lakers Role Players Will Be Available for Start of Season

After a season full of injuries, three role players will be ready to go at the start of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Dec 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Cam Reddish (5) reacts in front of the bench after making a three-point basket during the fourth quarter of the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship game against the Indiana Pacers at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers' disappointing ending to the 2023-24 NBA season could be blamed on a number of factors, including Darvin Ham's coaching adjustments, Rob Pelinka's inability to trade for a third superstar at the deadline, or the numerous injuries that derailed their roster midseason. Health was a hurdle for the Lakers all year, and injuries made it difficult for the team to build chemistry. Players constantly were rotating in and out of the lineups.

The Purple and Gold hired first-time head coach JJ Redick this offseason in hopes to better position themselves to hoist the Larry O' Brien Trophy at the end of the season. This year it will be up to Redick to maximize not only LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but the role players that will have to play around them. Three role players who the Lakers lost to injury will be available to play this season and could have a significant impact under this new coaching staff.

Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, and Cam Reddish all missed time last season due to injury, not to mention Gabe Vincent who missed practically the entire regular season after the Lakers signed him to a multi-year deal after his time with the Miami Heat. Between all four players, they missed 190 games this past NBA season. While Vanderbilt and Wood are still battling injuries, Reddish, Vincent and 2023 first round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino are set to suit up for L.A. in 2024-25, reports ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Reddish could have his best NBA season yet after he showed some flashes of the intangibles that made him a lottery pick back in 2019. Under the leadership of fellow Duke Blue Devil JJ Redick, there should be a rise in confidence for Reddish after he showed that could be a really good on-ball defender in the NBA. If Reddish can confidently shoot the basketball from distance he could carve out a significant role as a 3-and-D wing for this Lakers squad.

After spending the majority of last season dealing with injuries, Gabe Vincent should be primed for a bounce-back season in 2024-25. Vincent was added to the Lakers to provide shooting and tenacious defense at the guard position, it will interesting to see how Redick decides to use him especially if D'Angelo Russell remains a member of this roster.

Hood-Schifino barely played with L.A. last year, appearing in just 21 contests while averaging a scant 5.2 minutes per.

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