Lakers: Front Office Plans to Waive Veteran Forward Trevor Ariza This Week

The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that the Lakers are likely to waive Trevor Ariza before Sunday's contest against the Nuggets.

The Lakers were a historically old team this season. Signing well-seasoned veterans was an interesting strategy that did not pan out. At all. Apparently, the Lakers aren't going to wait until the offseason to get a little bit younger.

Shams Charania of the The Athletic reported on Tuesday afternoon that the Lakers are planning on waiving Trevor Ariza.

The Los Angeles Lakers intend to waive Trevor Ariza and use roster spot to convert a young player prior to Sunday’s deadline to sign a player, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Open roster spot now provides flexibility to add to roster.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 7, 2022

Presumably, the Lakers will convert a G-League player to a two-way contract and give that a player some on-court time in the Lakers finals game of the season agains the Denver Nuggets.

This season, the 36-year-old Ariza has played in 24 games. He's averaging 19.3 minutes per game, but has played in just two games since March 1st.

It's a sign of the times for an ancient team that was mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the play-in tournament after losing to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

At the very least, a young player should get a shot at some NBA playing time.