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35-year-old forward Trevor Ariza had a busy week as the NBA trudged through the draft and free agency. The former Trail Blazers forward passed through four teams via three separate trades. That odd journey garnered attention from USA Today NBA contributors Jeff Zillgitt and Mark Medina.
In USA Today’s NBA offseason review, Ariza’s week landed in the “unusual” column.
Ariza should probably stay where he is for reasons beyond wanting to stay safe during the pandemic. In less than a week, Ariza has been on four different teams as part of various trades. First, the Trail Blazers dealt Ariza and two-first round picks to Houston for Covington. Then, the Rockets traded Ariza and a first-round pick to Detroit as part of a sign-and-trade with Wood. Then, Detroit shipped Ariza to the Thunder.
The reason for Ariza’s continuously fluid itinerary? He has an expiring contract worth $12.8 million, and teams often find those contracts easy to trade because of the flexibility it creates.
Prior to the 2020 trade deadline, Ariza arrived in Portland as part of a trade that sent Kent Bazemore to Sacramento. In 21 pre-hiatus appearances, Ariza averaged 11.0 points per game with the Blazers.
You can read Zillgitt and Medina’s full offseason recap at USA Today.