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Can Trevor Ariza Still Join the Portland Trail Blazers for Series vs. Lakers?

PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 10: Trevor Ariza #8 of the Portland Trail Blazers warms up before the game against the Phoenix Suns at the Moda Center on March 10, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The Portland Trail Blazers topped the Phoenix Suns, 121-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 10: Trevor Ariza #8 of the Portland Trail Blazers warms up before the game against the Phoenix Suns at the Moda Center on March 10, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The Portland Trail Blazers topped the Phoenix Suns, 121-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Now that the Portland Trail Blazers have moved on to the playoffs, can Trevor Ariza apply for a “late-arrival form” and join the team in Orlando?

Ariza Opts-Out

On June 22, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news that Trevor Ariza, who the Portland Trail Blazers had recently acquired in a trade centered around Kent Bazemore, would not be joining the team in Orlando for personal, family-related reasons.

You simply can’t fault Ariza for this decision, as he was choosing his family over basketball. As Wojnarowski detailed in the Tweet above, Ariza opted out of the NBA’s Orlando restart to spend time with his son, in which he had a one-month visitation window with due to an ongoing custody case.

Weeks later, it was reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that, after seeing Zion Williamson and Montrezl Harrell leave the bubble to attend to family matters, members of the Trail Blazers “tried to persuade Trevor Ariza to reconsider joining them in the bubble.” While it has not been reported when Ariza’s original visitation window was, we do know that it had since been amended to conclude in early August, with plenty of time for Ariza to join the team for the first round of the playoffs against the Lakers.

The Verdict

So, can Trevor Ariza now join the Trail Blazers for their first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers? Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers would have had to apply for a hardship waiver or a late-arrival form for Ariza to join them in the bubble, which likely would have been denied by the NBA due to Ariza officially opting-out of the restart.

Had Ariza chosen not to opt-out of the NBA’s restart, he likely could have applied for a hardship waiver and joined the team when he was ready. While this would have meant that the Blazers couldn’t have signed Jaylen Adams to fill in for Ariza, the reality is that Adams has not played a single minute in the restart, and the Blazers would have been just fine without him.

It is important to note that Ariza likely made this decision thinking that there was no chance he would have been able to join the team unless they had made the second round of the playoffs, and that the team would be better off signing someone to replace him. Unfortunately, it seems now that the Blazers could have brought Ariza in to help them out in the bubble, but hindsight is always 20/20.

It just seems rather strange to me that Lou Williams of the Los Angeles Clippers can leave the bubble to go to a strip club, (whether he was getting food or not, he was still there) lie to the NBA of his whereabouts, and come back to play for the team, while Ariza cannot.

All in all, there is still no way to blame Ariza for his decision. Custody cases such as his can be very complicated, and choosing to be with his family over the team is a decision that the Trail Blazers and all of his fans should support. While the Blazers could desperately use his length and wing defending to help slow down LeBron James in their upcoming series, they’re unfortunately going to have to go on without him and look to Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. to do the job instead.