Well, this is what the Lakers have been waiting for in this supremely frustrating season—sort of.
While much of this tumultuous NBA season has been about which players are unavailable because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols (and, in L.A.’s case, the absence of star Anthony Davis with a knee injury), the Lakers finally got some good news with the addition of wing Trevor Ariza to the team’s arsenal.
The circumstances are not quite what anyone expected, but still, Ariza has been critical to the team’s plans all along.
Coach David Fizdale, who has replaced Frank Vogel while Vogel is in the COVID-19 protocols, announced before Sunday’s game against Chicago that Ariza would be on the floor for the first time this season, having recovered from what the team termed an “arthroscopic debridement procedure” on his right ankle. Translation: Ariza had ankle surgery, back in early October, and is finally ready to play.
Fizdale: No COVID-19 Update Yet
Fizdale met with the media before the game and said that he had no new information on the team’s struggles with COVID-19, which are affecting just about every team in the league now. Not only is Vogel out, but the Lakers are without Malik Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker, Avery Bradley, Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore because of COVID-19.
“Save that for the front office, guys, and Frank, please,” he said, “because I have no information on that standpoint. But what I do have is that Trevor Ariza is active and will be in the rotation tonight.”
Fizdale, though, was careful to limit expectations for Ariza, which is probably smart because we’re talking about a guy who has not played since lay May of this year and is 36 years old, to boot. Ariza played only 30 games, and four playoff games, for Miami last season, averaging 9.4 points on 41.1% shooting.
“Honestly, I don’t want to put any weight on what he can add right now, just happy to see him back on the floor, I think all of us are,” Fizdale said. “He’s been such an intricate part of our film sessions and our practice sessions with his voice. I know it’s been very frustrating for him, so I know it’s going to be great having him out there, competing for us and burning his lungs.”
Lakers Want to Build Smallball Lineups Around Ariza
It has been clear for a while now that Ariza is an integral part of the Lakers’ long-term plans, the hope being that, as a 6-foot-8 wing, Ariza can provide the defensive length to shore up the team’s shoddy perimeter D and the shooting to provide some interior space.
The idea has long been that Ariza could complete an ideal Lakers smallball lineup, with Davis at center and LeBron James at power forward.
In an episode of the behind-the-scenes show Backstage Lakers earlier this month, Vogel made it clear that Ariza is critical to that plan. When Davis is healthy, the Lakers want to play one big guy and give the rest of the center minutes to Davis.
“What we gotta evaluate on a game-to-game basis, now that we’re playing one center,” Vogel said, “are there times where we’re waiting for (Ariza) to get back to play him and Bron at the 3-4 and AD at the 5? But we have enough wings to play Bron at the 4.”
Now Ariza is back, which is what the Lakers were waiting on, but here we are with Davis gone, at least for four weeks. Sigh.
Comments
Lakers Finally Get Key Piece on the Floor Just as Others Depart