This NBA Player Archetype Is Going Extinct

LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 18, 2025: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) sits next to Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Vanderbilt (2) and Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake Laravia (12) during a game against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on November 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Gina Frazee/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A few years ago, Jared Vanderbilt was one of the most entertaining players to watch in the league. His energy hunting rebounds and loose balls was infectious, and his versatility on defense was quite attractive. Vanderbilt helped play a key role in turning the Minnesota Timberwolves into a strong defense in 2021-22 (13th in defensive rating), as they were a bottom-three unit a year ago.

Since then, injuries have plagued one of the NBA’s most prominent jitterbugs. Vanderbilt was limited to 36 games last season and 29 the year before. However, this year, he has been relatively healthy, which is why I was surprised to see him log back-to-back DNP-CDs (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) in the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Utah Jazz.

It got me thinking: Why is Vanderbilt — a healthy, athletic forward at the peak of his career (he’s 26) — not getting playing time?

the game has changed

One of the biggest stories of the 2025-26 season is the increase in the number of teams running the basketball. Heck, the Miami Heat have basically scrapped the idea of ​​using the pick-and-roll and created an offense centered around spacing the floor and finishing teams with drives to the rim (one Jaime Jacquez Jr. is thriving on, by the way).

That’s Vanderbilt’s point: He doesn’t actually drive. On the season, Vanderbilt is averaging only 1.4 drives per game (according to NBA.com); And, during his career, he has never actually driven more than 1.5 per game.

This season, there are 62 players averaging less than two drives per game and playing more than 15 minutes per game (minimum 10 games played). Of those 62 players, 53 (85.5%) were either centers (these players typically don’t drive much anyway) or proven pacers (players with a multi-season sample size of solid or better shooting at a reasonable rate). When you’re a huge roll threat who can catch lobs or a shooter who can finish plays from behind the 3-point line, it’s not as important if you can put the ball on the floor and attack.

For those wondering, here are nine people who don’t fall under one of those two buckets.

All of these guys are similar to Vanderbilt in that they are defense-first, non-centers who can’t really space the floor. But unlike Vanderbilt, all of these guys will remain in their team’s nightly rotation. Why so?

Although they don’t drive a lot, Peyton Watson, Derrick Jones Jr., Jeremy Sochan and Naquan Tomlin all get to the rim quite a bit (via cuts and putbacks), and they’re all more accurate from that range.

The same can’t be said for Jordan Walsh, Jaylen Clark and Javonte Smith, but they’re all offering elite wing/guard protection. All three are in or above the 86th percentile in defensive projection plus-minus (per dunks and threes). Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is just slightly above average (62nd percentile). So, while they kill their teams on offense, all three of them bring more value back to the table with their defense.

As far as Ziaire Williams is concerned, he plays for the 3-14 Brooklyn Nets. As the 29th ranked defense in the NBA, they are desperately trying to field capable NBA players. That’s hardly the same goal as the Luka Doncic/LeBron James/Austin Reeves-led Lakers.

Archetypes disappear all the time in the NBA. Once upon a time, every NBA team had a point guard whose sole purpose was to create offense on their set plays or a power forward who operated exclusively from the low block. Nowadays, you would be hard-pressed to find a single player who fits any of these descriptions.

This seems to be what is happening with non-elite defense-first wings/forwards who can’t drive, space the floor, or get a high volume of assisted shots at the rim. It wasn’t long ago that these bundles of energy were made for great regular season players who would eventually be eliminated from highly competitive postseason series (Look Vanderbilt during the 2023 playoffs). But now, it seems like there’s no room for these guys on healthy teams that are trying to compete on a game-to-game basis. Soon, even lower level players will stop targeting these players. And eventually, it seems as if they will go away completely.