Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the free-agent signings by potential workload

By Jason Reed | Aug 10, 2021

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(Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Trevor Ariza

Ranking Trevor Ariza this high and expecting him to have this big of a role on the team might seem like a daunting thing. However, Ariza averaged 28 minutes per game last season with the Miami Heat and has been right around the workload in recent years despite his age.

The reason why Ariza will likely get this many minutes is his size and defense. He is not the defender he was four years ago but he is still a plus on the defensive end and gives the Lakers legitimate wing size and length.

If you look at the way the Lakers’ rotation was constructed last season they had three players who played over 30 minutes per game (LeBron, AD, Dennis Schroder) then it dropped off to 28.7 minutes for Kyle Kuzma and 28.4 minutes for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Ariza will essentially be the KCP in this situation. I would expect him to get slightly fewer minutes and end up around 27.5 minutes per game.

The hope is that Ariza can continue to play solid basketball as regression is definitely a risk here. While the Lakers are fairly deep, they do lack another big, long wing that can defend in the same way that Ariza can.

Even if he takes a step back offensively if he can be a defensive-minded presence during crunch time that is a big win for the Lakers.

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