The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009 NBA Championship thanks in large part to the contributions of Trevor Ariza. Before being traded to the Lakers, however, Ariza says he wanted to be a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 16-year NBA veteran recently joined the ‘Knuckleheads' podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles to discuss a number of topics, including his arrival to Los Angeles in a trade with the Orlando Magic.
“First [thought], I'm going back home to my momma!” Ariza said. “It was kind of weird… I didn’t really want to play for the Lakers, I wanted to play for the Clippers. That is what I told the [Orlando] GM, at the time. I wanted to. I was excited about that. ‘I would like to go to the Clippers,' and he was like, ‘I'll let you know in a few days.' Then, like the next day, he said, ‘We're trading you you to the Lakers.'
“I'll never forget it. I was in the mall with Keyon Dooling. We were walking around and I get a call saying, ‘yeah, we traded you to LA.'”
Confused at which LA team, Ariza waited on then-GM Otis Smith for more information.
“I'm trying to keep my composure. He says, ‘Oh yeah the lakers.'”
Ariza had struggled to get significant playing time at that point in his career, averaging just six points in 18 minutes per game in his first three seasons with the New York Knicks and Magic. Moving to a championship contending team, he thought, would've made it even harder to carve out playing time.
“Oh shit, I'm never gonna play,” Trevor Ariza recalled thinking to himself. “I'm never gonna play.”
At the time, the Lakers were led by Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Derek Fisher, but were still pursuing improvements for their championship level roster. They traded for Ariza in exchange for Maurice Evans and Brian Cook in early November. They later pulled off the blockbuster trade that was Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, a 2008 first round pick, a 2010 first round pick, and the rights to Marc Gasol for All-Star Pau Gasol.
Those Lakers went on to the NBA Finals, but fell to the Boston Celtics.
The Clippers very likely presented more playing time opportunities. They were led by Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, Sam Cassell, and Cuttino Mobley after All-Star Elton Brand suffered a torn Achilles in an August workout. They went on to win just 23 games that season, and likely would've provided Ariza the opportunity to showcase his talents.
It later came out that the LA Clippers had discussed trading Caron Butler for Ariza a few years later in 2013, but then-owner Donald Sterling didn't want to mess with the team's chemistry.
Funny enough, everything worked out for Trevor Ariza. He was a huge part of the Lakers' 2009 Championship team and went on to sign a five-year, $34 million deal with the Houston Rockets.
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