When you have an old team like the Lakers, I think you have to live with the injuries. They ain't "accidential". Do we need Ariza? I don't know how much he has left in the tank. We haven't seen him. At his age (36) you are walking on razor's edge.
We shall see, Melo is the same age and he still has something left in the tank. Trevor did start at small forward in 27 of the 30 games he played last season in Miami, at 28 minutes a game. If we can get a decent 20 mins from him paired with Melo, Bron can slide back to 3 or he could play 3 with AD or James at 4.
Well, it seems he can move without too much trouble. Time to start practice and then we'll see. I am sure he can help us... I don't think he's toast. Old, yes - done, no.
This is the most obvious thing about this season is the Lakers don't have anyone who can bring what Ariza can theoretically can bring a 3 and D guy who can guard big wings/PFs off the ball and on ball plus still be a threat on offense
Theres too much expectation and hope that Ariza will turn this team around. His return will help a lot but he’s also on the downslide of his career. A lot of people are going to be disappointed when hes not the same Ariza we had last time.
I agree. I’m a fan of Ariza but I don’t expect much from him right away. Maybe in the playoffs hopefully.
Was listening to Bill O'Ram interview the other day on a sports show. He said the plan was to keep DJ @ the end of the bench, start TA @ the 4, and AD @ the 5. I think the role they visualized or is playing a Nic Batum like role for the Clips. Batum take the toughest assignment in wings, switch, shoot the 3, make the correct reads, etc. He's a glue guy. That's what I believe they want Ariza to be...
He won’t conjecture on when he’ll be back. From what he’s saying it’ll still take some time. I’m hoping he’s back in January. I think he will unless he has an unforeseen setback. Obviously he needs to take his time at his age and not rush back.
