While Trevor Ariza may not be a flashy name, he’s still one of the better small forward’s in the NBA. Of course, when your main offseason goals are sign either LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh or a combination of two of the three players, there’s bound to be disappointment when you come up empty handed.
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Case in point, the headline from a recent issue of the Houston Chronicle which couldn’t hide their displeasure of striking out in free agency.
Familiar with Trevor Ariza considering the forward has already played in clutch city, the skybox headline gave a less than glowing endorsement of the Houston Rockets biggest offseason acquisition.
Man, this skybox writer didn't exactly go out of his way to make Trevor Ariza feel welcome. pic.twitter.com/lSaLc5Bphs
— Jerome Solomon (@JeromeSolomon) July 13, 2014
Now, in fairness, the headline writer isn’t exactly wrong nor is he taking a shot at Trevor Ariza. The biggest problem here was that hopes were elevated that either James, Anthony or Bosh would make their way to the Houston Rockets and would form another ‘Big 3’ with James Harden and Dwight Howard.
The idea was actually somewhat realistic and made sense, which is likely why being left at the alter was so painful for both the fans and front office.
All that said, there’s no reason to be unhappy with the addition of Ariza, especially if the Houston Rockets end up losing Chandler Parsons to the Dallas Mavericks in free agency. Of course, you could argue that potentially losing Parsons was a direct result of the Rockets disappointing chase for a superstar, but you’re not in that position if you don’t have the available funds to make such a move.