Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks has never been one to mince words, and he has now gone after another member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Brooks was asked to name a dumb NBA player on Rayasianboy’s livestream and went with Jarred Vanderbilt.
“Going to throw a shot, I can’t even lie,” Brooks said. “This guy doesn’t even like me, to be honest, but who cares? Jarred Vanderbilt on the Lakers.”
Rayasianboy didn’t even recognize the name at first, but eventually did with some help from Brooks. He then asked the 30-year-old why he thinks Vanderbilt is dumb.
“I just think he got way more potential that he’s not untapping,” Brooks said.
That’s a bit of an odd reason to call someone dumb. There are plenty of other factors you can usually point to for someone not achieving their full potential.
In Vanderbilt’s case, you wonder if there is any untapped potential. The 27-year-old is arguably the Lakers’ best defender, but still played just 10.7 minutes per game in the 2026 playoffs. Why? Well, that’s down to Vanderbilt being a negative on the offensive end. There is nothing really you can point to that he does well.
First of all, Vanderbilt is a pretty terrible three-point shooter. He shot 29.3% from three in the regular season and is at 29.0% for his career. There was hope before this season that Vanderbilt had discovered his shooting stroke. He’d shoot 42.4% from beyond the arc over his first 22 games of the season, but then regressed.
Secondly, Vanderbilt does not have a tight handle. You do not want to see him dribbling the ball, given how turnover-prone he is.
Thirdly, Vanderbilt can’t create his own shot and isn’t exactly a great finisher at the rim either. He is the definition of a one-way player.
Is any of this down to Vanderbilt, who averaged 4.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, being dumb? Well, some players are just not good on one end of the floor. You need to be extremely skilled even to be a competent offensive player in the NBA.
The last time we saw Vanderbilt shining on offense was at the end of his tenure at Victory Prep Academy. He put up incredible averages of 28.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game as a senior.
Vanderbilt then headed to Kentucky and averaged 5.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game as a freshman. It was pretty clear then that we weren’t looking at an offensive juggernaut.
Vanderbilt is just who he is at this point. The Lakers made a mistake giving him a four-year, $48 million extension in 2023. Vanderbilt has a $13.3 million player option for 2027-28, so he’ll be on their books for a while.
As for Brooks, he has taken strides offensively since he entered the NBA. The 30-year-old was arguably at his best with the Suns in 2025-26, as he averaged 20.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game.
The Suns want to keep Brooks around long-term, but there are age-related concerns. It will be interesting to see how this situation pans out.
What we can say for sure is that Brooks will keep firing shots no matter what. Earlier this year, in January, he called LeBron James the most overrated player in the NBA. Brooks has embraced being the villain now and has provided the basketball world with some wild soundbites.
