Getty LeBron James, left, and Frank Vogel of the Lakers
You had to figure that, based on the way the Lakers roster has been constructed and the way coach Frank Vogel has approached some playing-time decisions early in this NBA season, there was also going to be an intention of giving the team a small-ball look, with Anthony Davis at center and LeBron James at power forward. The thing that was missing, though, was a two-way wing who could hold his own—and the Lakers are very hopeful that Trevor Ariza is that guy.
Lakers coaches pretty much acknowledged that is the case during a filmed meeting for Spectrum Sports’ Backstage: Lakers program, which showed a pregame meeting for what was eventually a Lakers loss to the Clippers.
In the meeting, Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy, who plays a role as a locker-room liaison as one of his duties, noted that Ariza, who is coming back from preseason ankle surgery, has, “still got a little bit of a limp.”
And that’s when Vogel made clear that Ariza is the key to the team’s small-lineup intentions. When Davis is healthy (he’s missed the last two games with knee soreness), the Lakers want to play one big guy, and have decided on Dwight Howard over fellow veteran center DeAndre Jordan. The rest of the center minutes should got to Davis, though James has played the 5, too.
“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.”
Ariza Could Be Back for Lakers by Christmas
There is some hope on the Ariza front, as he is slated to begin practicing with the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, this week. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the team is “hopeful” that Ariza will be back around Christmas, possibly as soon as next week.
Trevor Ariza is expected to get in a practice on Monday with some members of the South Bay Lakers, plus Rajon Rondo and Kent Bazemore, as the Lakers’ veteran forward continues his ramp up his activity towards making his regular season debut after undergoing ankle surgery.
Ariza had ankle surgery in October. He spent last season with Miami, playing only 30 games, but missed the first half of the season as he sat out for “personal reasons” while he was with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers were interested in acquiring him then, but were overly focused on collecting centers and did not have the roster space.
Ariza certainly fits the mold of what the Lakers need, especially on the defensive end, where L.A. has been getting clobbered by poor perimeter defense. Ariza is a very good perimeter defender—though, at age 36, coming off ankle surgery and having played only 83 total games since October 2019, there is some question as to how effective he will be for the Lakers.
There is, also, some reasonable question about whether it’s wise for the Lakers to pin their hopes on a season turnaround on Ariza If the Lakers do make a trade this season, it’s widely believed that a 3-and-D wing with size will be their priority.
Is Anthony Davis Getting Tired?
Another tidbit that shook free from the behind-the-scenes from the Backstage show was concern about Anthony Davis’ wind. If the Lakers start Davis at center to begin a quarter, Vogel said, “it gets tougher to pull AD unless we go back to Dwight to finish the quarter.”
Of course, the Lakers want strong finishes to the second and fourth quarters, and that requires Davis be on the floor. But if Davis is starting those quarters and is not able to play all 12 minutes straight, the Lakers’ coaches need to find a way to give him some rest or get him to indicate that he’s tired.
Davis has said that fatigue kicks in, according to Handy: “He’ll make mention of it when he comes out of the game.”
Handy expounded on that, too, saying, “He keeps saying that he’s tired. So, just like Mike (Penberthy) is telling him, I told him, ‘Look, you get—you don’t want to run the whole quarter, put your hand up. Put your hand up so we can sub you.’”
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