How Does Jarred Vanderbilt's Injury Change the Lakers' Rotation, and Plans at the Trade Deadline?

It's a very, very busy week in the NBA with the trade deadline coming up on the 8th. And, of course, that means the Lakers tied to any available player on the market, because that's how this works.

But while before the chatter was built mostly around Atlanta guard Dejounte Murray, the Lakers now have to fill a massive hole left by the injury to Jarred Vanderbilt. The Lakers now have a gaping hole to fill, in addition to any improvements they want to make in the backcourt, or anywhere else.

And the stuff they have available doesn't change. It's one pick, it's D'Angelo Russell, it's (maybe) Rui Hachimura and an injured Gabe Vincent, plus whatever appeal guys like Max Christie and Jalen Hood-Schifino might have.

So which holes do they try to fill? Do they keep more assets for this summer, roll the dice on this year and hope for the best?

It's not an easy time to be Rob Pelinka.

Meanwhile, one of the guys on the list of potential trade assets—Christie—was also one of their most impactful players in Saturday's win over the Knicks. Will Darvin Ham continue leaning heavily into the youngster for his defensive versatility (as well as some outside shooting) with Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish unavailable? Does the (new again) starting lineup mean that Rui Hachimura finally gets the PT Lakers fans have been clamoring for?

Saturday it made sense to play Taurean Prince... but that's not going to be the case every game.

Finally, what exactly was LeBron talking about with the hourglass emoji last week? And has he made any decisions around his player option for next year? The answer to the latter is no, and the former is "I'm not telling." Or so it was ahead of the game Saturday night.

So anything to read into either?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers have a major hole to fill with Jarred Vanderbilt on the shelf.

SEGMENT 2: How should the Lakers try to address their shortcomings at the deadline. How do they prioritize?

SEGMENT 3: LeBron says a lot by saying very little.

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