Trevor Ariza Is Reaping the Benefits of Leaving the L.A. Lakers

It didn't have to be this way for Trevor Ariza.

News recently broke that Ariza was a key component in a four-team trade which will land him in New Orleans, after playing a single season as a member of the Houston Rockets.

Los Angeles Lakers fans will always remember Ariza, who was a home-grown product, and an integral piece in the Lakers' NBA championship of 2009.

Fans will also remember the manner in which Ariza bolted for assumed greener pastures after the Lakers refused to offer him the money he was seeking.

The rest is history.

The Lakers went on to offer Ron Artest nearly the same contract Ariza was seeking, and what had been perceived as a defiant move on Ariza's part became basically a trade between Houston and Los Angeles.

Artest went on...

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