Los Angeles Lakers Reportedly Looking to Bring Back Former NBA Champion Trevor Ariza

The Los Angeles Lakers have made several moves in the off-season. The defending champions replenished their roster by replacing veteran players with some young stars. During the off-season, the Lakers signed Dennis Schröder, Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol and Wesley Matthews. But now another name has emerged on the Lakers radar; Trevor Ariza.

Ariza is a former Laker who the franchise wants to bring back. He was an integral part of the 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers team that won the NBA Championship. In their championship playoff run, Ariza started and played all 23 games for the Lakers. He averaged close to 11 points, 2 assists, and shot 47% from the three-point line.

However, Ariza never got the chance to defend the title with the Lakers. Ariza joined the Houston Rockets to replace Yao Ming, who was declared injured. Since then, Ariza has bounced around from team to team, such as the Hornets, the Wizards and the Sacramento Kings.

Trevor Ariza: Coming home to the Lakers?

At the trade deadline last season, Ariza surprisingly went to the Portland Trail Blazers. However, he didn’t join the Trail Blazers in the NBA bubble, citing personal reasons. During the offseason, Ariza went to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a three-team trade with the Pistons and the Blazers.

For Ariza, he is at that stage in his career where he can provide valuable veteran experience and championship pedigree to any team. Given the Thunders’ current rebuilding plans, keeping hold of Ariza is not in their best interest. Yet, there will be other NBA teams that can bring him in.

It appears as though the Los Angeles Lakers want to bring the veteran player back into the fold. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Lakers are trying to find a way to bring back the former NBA champion. He wrote, “The Lakers are monitoring Oklahoma City’s Trevor Ariza should he become available, sources say. As of now, both Ariza and George Hill are expected to begin the season on the Thunder roster. There is also interest in Hill’s services around the league.”

The Lakers cannot bring Ariza in right now under their salary cap. However, his former agent Rob Pelinka is the current Lakers GM, and could find a way to move things around to bring the veteran in.