Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick continues to snub Jared Vanderbilt in Friday’s tough loss to the Boston Celtics. The forward has been out of the rotation since LeBron James made his season debut on Nov. 18. Prior to this, Vanderbilt played 14 games, averaging 4.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, shooting 44.0% from the field, including 28.6% from three-point range.

The Lakers could have used Vanderbilt Against the Celtics, especially Jaylen Brown scoring 30 points. While the Lakers forward’s offense isn’t up to par yet, his defensive playmaking can help Los Angeles in key moments. The Lakers trailed by 29 points at one point and narrowed the gap to 17 points in the third quarter.

Redick, however, never considered Vanderbilt as an option. The veteran didn’t even get into the game after the second-year coach gave up the white flag. Vanderbilt was the only player who did not play.

G-League players Bronny James, Nick Smith Jr. and Drew Timme all played a few minutes for the veteran forward.

Why isn’t Jared Vanderbilt playing? Lakers head coach JJ Redick explains the decision

JJ Redick Explained the decision not to play Jared Vanderbilt on Monday. The Lakers coach explained that he will deploy a nine-man rotation for the remainder of the season and conveyed that message to Vanderbilt.

“Some of the things I communicated to him before LeBron came back was that he needed to be able to finish consistently before LeBron came back, after LeBron came back, and there might be a numbers crunch because we might be going to a nine-man rotation, and that’s the reality,” Redick explain (Via Lakers reporter Daniel Stackland).

The Lakers could have put Jared Vanderbilt against Boston. However, they missed shots early in the game and the offense struggled, while the Celtics came out firing from deep. JJ Redick opted to play alongside Dalton Knicht and Nick Smith Jr., hoping that would help Los Angeles’ offense.

Vanderbilt has struggled offensively, even in areas where he has excelled in the past as a forward and rim runner. This is one of the key reasons why he hasn’t been able to break into the rotation.