Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura injury updates are major for the Lakers.

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers will have all of their forwards available for the first time this season. For the Lakers’ game against the Houston Rockets, neither Rui Hachimura nor Jarred Vanderbilt are listed as injured. The former is expected to make his 2023–24 debut after missing the first five weeks of the season due to a heel injury, and the latter is expected to recover from a nasal fracture.

The Lakers’ game against Houston on Saturday is scheduled to feature both Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel) and Rui Hachimura (nasal fracture), according to the team. After missing the first 20 games of the season, Vanderbilt will be making its season debut, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweeted on Friday afternoon.

On November 22, during Los Angeles’ hard-fought loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Hachimura broke his nose. Two days later, he underwent corrective surgery, and the Lakers announced that Hachimura would miss at least the following week’s games.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt hasn’t played in 2023–24 due to a persistent case of left heel bursitis during the preseason. On November 13, team medical staff gave him the all-clear to resume his basketball activities.

Hachimura’s broken nose has completely decimated Los Angeles’ depth. Despite missing four of the last five games due to a groin injury, Cam Reddish has been one of the league’s most pleasant individual surprises of the season. Initially, he helped offset the lengthy absences of both Vanderbilt and the still-sidelined Gabe Vincent.

Due to Hachimura’s injury, the Lakers’ roster was nearly at capacity as of late. Darvin Ham was essentially forced into an eight-man rotation, with Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes filling in for Austin Reaves off the bench. Since Reddish’s injury, Max Christie has started in the backcourt next to D’Angelo Russell.