Lakers Getting Reinforcements For Final Game Of 2021
The Los Angeles Lakers will be getting some rotation players back from the NBA's coronavirus health and safety protocols ahead of tonight's home bout against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet reports that Lakers reserves Trevor Ariza, Austin Reaves and Kent Bazemore have cleared the league's COVID-19 protocols and can suit up for tonight's New Year's Eve battle with Portland.
Ariza and Reaves number among the team's better two-way players (which is not exactly a ringing endorsement of Rob Pelinka's roster construction, but such is life). The 6'8" Ariza remains a solid tweener forward who can guard multiple positions knock down an open triple, though at age 36 he is merely a shadow of his 2009 Laker self. Injuries and protocols have limited the vet to just two games with LA so far this season. In those two games, he is averaging 7.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 18.0 minutes.
The 23-year-old Reaves has emerged as one of the team's better perimeter players, a 6'5" shooting guard who plays aggressive defense and is nailing 39% of his three-pointers on 2.4 looks. Through 17 games (at 19.7 minutes per), Reaves is averaging 5.8 points on 50% shooting, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
Bazemore has played his way out of the Lakers' rotation and will probably not be long for Los Angeles.
