Kobe Bryant Fans!

Can I get a hell yea?!? The Lakers finally dumped Brian Cook! (and Maurice Evans) and have acquired Trevor Ariza from the Orlando Magic. Many Laker fans, such as myself will surely not miss Cook and his half ass efforts on the court, matador defense, and flat shot. The ESPN story regarding the Lakers acquiring Trevor Ariza continues below:

The Los Angeles Lakers made a trade, but it wasn’t the one everyone was waiting for.

General manager Mitch Kupchak announced on Tuesday that the team had acquired forward Trevor Ariza from the Orlando Magic for forward Brian Cook and guard Maurice Evans.

A four-year veteran who began his career with the New York Knicks, Ariza averaged 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per game last season with the Magic.

The deal saves the Lakers some money in the end. While he’s averaging only 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds this season, Ariza is in the final year of his contract. Cook, averaging 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds, is in the first year of a three-year, $10.5 million deal.

The Orlando Sentinel reported on Tuesday that the Magic used their $2.6 million injury exemption — from the Tony Battie injury — to make the deal work. The Magic also released veteran big man Bo Outlaw.

“It was hard to trade Trevor on two fronts,” Magic general manager Otis Smith said, according to the Sentinel. “Trevor’s one of ‘my kids.’ I’d like to have kept him, but we made a huge investment in the 4-spot [power forward Rashard Lewis] and we have two guys [Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu] playing extremely well.

“It’s bittersweet for Trevor. He found a home in Orlando. Nine of the 10 things were good, but the one thing — not playing — was not good. Him not playing, that’s tough on a young guy.”

Ariza makes a homecoming. He grew up in Los Angeles and attended Westchester High School.