The Los Angeles Lakers had an ugly 2025-26 preseason debut on Friday. They lost, 103-81, to the Phoenix Suns, and not only did they have massive problems hitting shots and scoring points, but their offensive execution looked discombobulated.

However, coach JJ Redick made it clear that his goal for the preseason isn’t necessarily wins but improvement in execution. He singled out forward Jarred Vanderbilt as one man who executed the game plan well, especially on the defensive end.

Via Lakers Nation:

“I thought Vando played extremely hard and was very disruptive,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said after the game.

Vanderbilt missed all four of his shot attempts, but he was disruptive defensively. He was assigned to guard the Suns’ players at the top of the floor, and he pressured their ball handling, allowing him to come up with one steal, as well as one block, in 21 minutes.

“He was a bright spot tonight,” Redick added. “I thought his physicality, disruption defensively (was good). As he builds his conditioning, I expect him to be an elite offensive rebounder for us this year. He’s really worked on his shot, I know it didn’t show tonight. But he’s worked on his shot and he’s getting more and more comfortable shooting spot-up 3s. So I expect him to be an impact player for us.”

Vanderbilt said a few days ago that he’s focused on improving his 3-point shooting, which has been the most glaring weakness in his game for years. He’s a career 28.8% 3-point shooter, and opposing teams usually leave him wide open in the corners and practically ask him to let fly from out there.

If he were to improve to around the league average in 3-point shooting percentage this season, he could get more playing time, which would improve L.A.’s defense by allowing him to spend more time hounding opposing guards and wings.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick calls Jarred Vanderbilt ‘a bright spot’ in Friday’s game