3 Players the LA Clippers Should Hope Get Bought Out
LA Clippers Buyout Wish List #2: Trevor Ariza
Trevor Ariza feels like a guy I’ve been wanting on the LA Clippers for years now. His skillset would be perfect on our team; he shoots the three at a solid percentage (40% last season, but usually in the mid 30s). His defense is solid and he’s a veteran presence who could help the locker room, in the same vein as Nicolas Batum now. You can never have enough championship experience in a locker room, and Ariza knows what it takes to win, as he was a member of the 2009 champion Los Angeles Lakers.
He’s currently a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he hasn’t played a game for personal reasons. Last season he was a member of the Portland Trail Blazers before getting moved around in the offseason, arriving in Oklahoma City via the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons
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The big question, of course, is whether he gets bought out. He’s an expiring contract making $12.8 Million this year; it’s a high salary for somebody who would be a backup or even third string forward on a contending team, but the fact that it’s expiring makes it more palatable.
All it takes is for one team to be willing to toss a second round pick at OKC, and the odds of Ariza being bought out plummet. The LA Clippers should be keeping their fingers crossed that that doesn’t happen; they don’t have the capability to make a trade for Ariza, but in the buyout market you have to think they’d be aggressive in pursuing him.
Another wing who can hold his own on defense and make open shots would be incredible as the LA Clippers make a push for a championship, and Trevor Ariza fits the bill nicely.