Suns’ Williams: Craig (knee) will play in Game 3

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt missed the first month of last season due to a heel injury. After playing in 29 games, Vanderbilt then sprained his right foot on February 1 and missed the rest of the season. That foot sprain is reportedly still giving the Lakers forward trouble as training camp approaches.

Vanderbilt may miss the start of training camp according to Spectrum Sportsnet’s Mike Bresnahan. Speaking on the Lakeshow Podcast, Bresnahan gave a less than optimistic update on Vanderbilt’s status.

“Vando is gonna be interesting. I’m not sure he’ll be ready for training camp or even for the preseason games. It’s a foot injury. He opted not to have a procedure in-season when he got hurt in February. So, we’ll see if he’s ready to go. I don’t have a lot of details on it but I’m not sure he’ll be ready for training camp. Regular season is a different story, hopefully he’s ready by then. But nothing concrete on him yet.”

The Lakers signed Vanderbilt to a four-year, $48 million extension that starts with this season. Los Angeles is counting on Vanderbilt to fill a rotation role, as he’s their best defensive forward, with Anthony Davis play primarily at the five.

The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler indefinitely at least through the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Butler has previously been suspended seven games and two games by the Heat for separate incidents.

Butler is seeking a trade from the Heat with the situation becoming increasingly contentious over the past two months. Butler was most recently suspended for missing a team flight to play at the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Monday morning, Butler walked out of shootaround after he was informed he would be coming off the bench with Haywood Highsmith being inserted into the starting lineup moving forward.

The Heat released the following statement:

“The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games. The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services. This includes walking out of practice earlier today.”