Los Angeles Lakers welcome back three former players in Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and Wayne Ellington, sources say
Ariza #Ariza
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to terms with four former players on Monday — Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore — as the franchise looks to refill its roster after all the players it sent out in the Russell Westbrook deal, sources told ESPN.
Howard, 35, won a championship with L.A. in his second stint with the team two seasons ago before joining the Philadelphia 76ers last year. His agent, Qais Haider, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski of the agreement.
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Ariza, 36, helped the Lakers win a title in 2009 alongside Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The Lakers pursued the wing player several times over the past few years, as Ariza has ties not only to the organization but to vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, who represented Ariza when he was an agent. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Miami Heat last season.
Ariza’s agents, Aaron Mintz, Steven Huemann and Erika Ruiz of CAA Sports, informed Wojnarowski of the deal.
Ellington, 33, played one season for the Lakers (2014-15) and is a career 38.2% 3-point shooter. He shot 42.2% from 3 last season, averaging 9.6 points in 22 minutes per game for the Detroit Pistons. Ellington’s pact with the Lakers was first reported by Yahoo! Sports and confirmed by ESPN.
All three players will join L.A. on one-year, veterans minimum contracts.
Bazemore had a 23-game stint with the Lakers in 2013-14. The small forward spent this past season with the Golden State Warriors, appearing in 67 games (18 starts) and shooting a career-high 40.8% from 3 while averaging 7.2 points. His deal was first reported by The Athletic and confirmed by ESPN.
The Lakers entered into the start of free agency with just four players — Westbrook, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol — and still have up to seven roster spots left to fill, even with the addition of Howard, Ariza, Ellington and Bazemore.