Trevor Ariza Fitting in with the Lakers

Lakers’ starting small forward Trevor Ariza was traded by Orlando in November 2007 and although some had doubts he is now proving himself in the NBA playoffs with three-point shooting and game-turning steals. The Lakers sent Brian Cook and Maurice Evans to the Magic for Ariza, seeing potential in him, which surprised some Lakers players who were close to Cook and Evans. Cook was traded to Houston for Rafer Alston a few months ago and Evans signed as a free agent to Atlanta last July.

Averaging 11.4 points and shooting 50% from three-point range in the playoffs, Ariza is third among players with 20 or more attempts beyond the arc in the playoffs and also had game-turning steals twice against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals. Ariza will face off against his former team starting on Thursday in the NBA Finals and recently told the L.A. Times, “I made a lot of friends there. But now it’s business.” When asked if he had any hard feelings toward Orlando’s Coach Stan Van Gundy, who was hired in June 2007, Ariza said, “It’s not about me, or one person in the series. It’s about a team. I think he’s a good coach. I didn’t fit into his style of play, and that’s fine with me. You’re not going to fit into everybody’s system.” Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson weighed in saying, “For a lot of people in the league, this is a young guy who came out early [from UCLA] and bounced around from New York to Orlando, had some issues early with injuries and playing time. Here he is now as a starter that’s a solid performer. We think of his as a night-in, night-out performer for us.”

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