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Portland Trail Blazers G/F Trevor Ariza will sit out when the season returns in Orlando in July, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday evening. Ariza will instead use the time as a visitation window for his 12-year-old son. He’s currently in a custody case and will opt to spend time with his son instead of playing for the Blazers.
Sources: Ariza has been involved in a custody case over his 12-year old son, and mother’s choice of granting a court-ordered one month visitation period during league’s quarantine of teams in Orlando left Ariza to choose those parenting responsibilities over competing in restart. https://t.co/STYQi2RGDW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2020
Ariza is the second play to reportedly say that he will sit out when the season starts back up. Earlier in the day, the first was reported when Davis Bertans opted to not return for the Wizards, who have a long shot at making the playoffs anyway. Bertans is sitting out as a soon-to-be free agent and doesn’t want to risk injury before signing a new contract. Ariza is a veteran in a completely different situation.
The Blazers will surely miss Ariza’s veteran presence during the playoff push, but ultimately they have enough depth to survive this loss. This just goes to show you that we could see a lot of players sitting out for various reasons. Expect more players names to be reported as we inch closer to a potential return.