2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% (FGA) | FT% (FTA) | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 8 | .475 (1.9) | .600 (0.6) | 0.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
- Healthy-night role: Eight minutes, all at power forward.
- 9-category: Watch-list defender; steals and rebounds matter only if the workload doubles.
- Points leagues: Off standard draft boards.
- Dynasty: Deep-league hold only, with role and health more important than age.
Projection logic
Vanderbilt averaged 4.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 17.4 minutes over 65 games in 2025-26. The new roster has more shooting and on-ball depth, while Mamukelashvili, LaRavia, Williams, and Carr all compete for forward minutes. The desk therefore assigns Vanderbilt a small healthy-night defensive shift rather than assuming his prior workload survives. His projected appearance average equals those eight base minutes. ESPN player statistics
Redraft, dynasty, and scenarios
- Median: Short matchup-driven role with no standard-league value.
- Ceiling: Vanderbilt wins 20-24 minutes as the preferred defensive closer and approaches one steal with six rebounds.
- Floor: Sporadic DNP-CDs against opponents who ignore him beyond the arc.
- Draft stance: Do not draft; monitor starting lineups and closing groups.
- Format note: A punt-points build in a 16-team league is the earliest plausible use case.
Confidence
- Roster: High — listed by the Lakers.
- Minutes: Low — he could plausibly range from DNP to starter depending on matchup and camp.
- Rates: Medium-high — rebound/steal identity is established, but tiny minutes make per-game output fragile.
Sources
Career record
Pre-NBA: Kentucky, 2017-18: 14 GP, 5.9 PTS, 7.9 REB in 17.0 MPG — a five-star recruit whose lone college season was gutted by foot injuries. Draft: 2018, Round 2, Pick 41, Orlando Magic (draft-night trade to Denver).
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 19 | DEN | 17 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | .474 | .600 | 0.5 |
| 2019-20 | 20 | DEN/MIN | 11 | 4.2 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | .625 | 1.000 | 0.6 |
| 2020-21 | 21 | MIN | 64 | 17.8 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | .606 | .559 | 0.8 |
| 2021-22 | 22 | MIN | 74 | 25.4 | 6.9 | 8.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | .587 | .656 | 1.0 |
| 2022-23 | 23 | UTA/LAL | 78 | 24.1 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | .548 | .691 | 1.2 |
| 2023-24 | 24 | LAL | 29 | 20.0 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | .518 | .667 | 1.0 |
| 2024-25 | 25 | LAL | 36 | 16.1 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | .488 | .556 | 0.8 |
| 2025-26 | 26 | LAL | 65 | 17.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | .471 | .589 | 0.9 |
| Career | — | 4 teams | 374 | 19.5 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | .546 | .633 | 0.9 |
Durability: Feet are the career-long theme: they shortened his Kentucky year, kept him buried in Denver, ended 2023-24 at 29 games (midfoot sprain in February), and delayed his 2024-25 debut to midseason after offseason surgery. The 65 games of 2025-26 were his most since 2022-23, but he has exactly three seasons of 64+ games in eight years.
Trajectory: The record shows a genuine three-year prime (2020-23): a starting energy forward giving 6-8 points, 6-8 rebounds and 1.1-1.3 steals on elite FG%, peaking with the 2022-23 UTA/LAL year. Since then minutes, rebound rate and finishing efficiency have all declined together — 2025-26's 4.4/4.5 in 17 minutes is a specialist's line, not a starter's. In 2026-27 he competes with Mamukelashvili, LaRavia and Williams for situational forward minutes. He becomes fantasy-relevant only in the narrow scenario where injuries or a defensive-closer role push him back to ~24 minutes, where his steals-plus-rebounds combination has historically produced deep-league value; nothing in the last three seasons suggests LA plans that role for him.
Career sources: StatMuse season averages · StatMuse career stats · Wikipedia
Open questions
- Is Vanderbilt still part of the opening-night rotation after the wing overhaul?
- Can he supply enough corner shooting for Redick to use him beside Kessler?