Trevor Ariza will always have a special place in the hearts of Laker fans. The L.A. native was a fan favorite during the Lakers title run in 2009 thanks to his clutch shooting and his highlight dunk reel. Too bad for Trevor that he received some terrible advice from his agent last offseason as he is now on his third team in two years.
When Trevor opted to pursue a long term deal with the Houston Rockets, you knew exactly how his career was going to go. Much like many athletic swingmen in the NBA, Trevor is quickly becoming trade bait [...]

NBA.com is reporting that injured center Andrew Bynum could return to the lineup sooner than expected.  The Lakers have gone 3-0 since losing the big man, winning by an average of 8 points.
Josh Powell and D.J. Mbenga have seen an increase in their playing time while Bynum has been out.
Other notes from around the web:
The OC Register’s Kevin Ding is still mulling the Artest-Ariza Swap.
The Lakers ownership is one big happy family.
The Lakers are better than they let on.
Kobe keeps breaking records.

We’re not going to pretend to know you, Trevor, even though we feel as if we do. Let’s just say that we knew you as a Comet before anyone ever knew you as a Bruin or a Laker.
Before you decide to go down this road and leave the city that helped to make you into the most athletic Santa Claus Grant Hill ever saw, we’d like to remind you of a few things.
As it stands, you’re stuck trying to get what you’re owed while awaiting a few other teams to sort their affairs before they give you serious consideration.
Let’s look at [...]

Mitch Kupchak’s coupon book filled with hometown discounts is about to expire at 9:01pm pacific time tonight.
Free agent to be Trevor Ariza, a Los Angeles native, is not going to give his boyhood team a cut rate price for his services or at least his agent, David Lee, isn’t.
According to various outlets, including Slam Online, Lee has stated that his client is not going to drop his asking price despite Ariza’s desire to remain a Laker.
The former Westchester High grad and UCLA Bruin wants nothing more than to continue wearing purple and gold. However, his clutch play in the postseason [...]

Just read this little blurb over at RealGM:
“Free agency officially opens on Wednesday, and the Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, Celtics, Knicks, and possibly even the Lakers are expected to show interest.”
I have no idea where they got their source, but I’m pretty sure that every Laker fan on earth hopes that this is only being considered if both Ariza and Odom are offered unmatchable contracts from other ball clubs and we’re stuck with the money we saved for them.
With the prospects of Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar backing up a still-relevant Derek Fisher, should we really even consider wasting cap space [...]