
The Los Angeles Lakers have finally started making moves within the 2021 NBA Free Agency period, and it’s a move for a former Laker that has won a championship with the team. No, not Dwight Howard or Danny Green (although that could still happen), I’m talking about Trevor Ariza who will sign a one-year deal with the team which will assumedly be for the veteran minimum (Adrian Wojanrowski/ESPN with the breaking news).
Free agent F Trevor Ariza has agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, his agents Aaron Mintz, Steven Heumann and Erika Ruiz of @caa_sports tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 2, 2021
Trevor Ariza will be coming to L.A. for his 18th season in the NBA. He has career averages of 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. He most recently played alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on the Miami Heat during the 2020-21 season. Before that, he finished the 2019-20 season with the Portland Trail Blazers (began season with the Sacramento Kings), losing to the Lakers in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
As previously mentioned, this will not be the first time that Ariza has donned the purple-and-gold. Ariza won a championship with the team in the 2009 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol’s first of two championships together. Ariza came to the Lakers in a trade during the 2007-08 season, signing a deal with the Houston Rockets after the 2008-09 season.
Trevor Ariza will be brought in the shore up the Lakers’ wings after Kyle Kuzma departed in the trade with the Wizards for Russell Westbrook. Hell, Ariza is technically the only wing player on the team aside from LeBron James, as the Lakers have little players officially under contract for next season.
He has shot the ball decently well in previous years, although his 2020-21 season was nothing to write home about. He averaged 40.0% from three on 4.0 attempts per game in the 2019-20 season while he only made 35.0% of his 4.8 three-point attempts per game with the Heat in the 2020-21 season.
Welcome back to Hollywood, Ariza!