Laker forwards Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton are feeling serious heat.

    And I am not talking about the heatwave that is currently hitting Southern California.

    Trevor Ariza will be back next series as his broken foot has healed and will demand time right as soon as he gets back into basketball shape.

    Ariza is hands down the Lakers best perimeter defender after Kobe Bryant.  Lakers certainly did struggle with Deron Williams on defense when Derek Fisher went out of the game and they were reluctant to put Kobe on him. However throw Ariza into the mix and he would have been the secondary guy on Williams.  Ariza is long and quick and would've contained Williams well when Fisher was on the bench taking breathers.

    With that said, Ariza is almost guaranteed a spot in the lineup.  The Lakers will need Ariza's defense next series whether their opponent is New Orleans or San Antonio.  Lakers coach Phil Jackson can put Ariza on a David West or Chris Paul if the Hornets end up being the Lakers next foe or Jackson can put him on Manu  Ginobili or Tony Parker if Los Angeles gets San Antonio.

    What this means for the two other Laker small forwards is that they must prove that they can do things right or they will fall out of the rotation. 

    However, I can see Phil Jackson putting Walton in as a backup to Lamar Odom and the Lakers having a five man second unit of Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Ariza, Walton and Ronny Turiaf to back up Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Radmanovic, Odom and Pau Gasol.  

    But these are the playoffs and if the Zen Master believes that he must at least have one of his Big Three on the floor which is the more likely scenario then one of the small forwards will not be playing very much.

    Radmanovic saw Ariza threatening to come back before game four and stepped his game up.  Walton on the other hand lets say he has taken a step down the ladder after a horrid fumble in game three of the West Semis.  Radmanovic understands that he is on the court to do one thing shoot.  He also hustles and competes on defense which is overlooked and hence Jackson has stayed put with him.

    Walton in a way has lost his pride and recognition from his coach and as Ariza's return nears his confidence level has gone down.  Jackson himself said yesterday that Walton is not a 40 minute guy and as a result he has lost playing time. Closing games usually at the three spot is Bryant with Vujacic and Fisher in the backcourt and the fourth year player has saw his playing time go down. Furthermore Walton is the type of player that needs confidence in order to have success.  At the moment he seems to have a little bit more confidence than Farmar which doesn't say much.  If Walton wants to keep playing he needs to pick himself back up. One thing on his side though is his relentless passing game that stays good regardless of confidence on his side which is so important to the triangle.

    Ariza's near return without a doubt has created a burden on both players shoulders. On a positive note the Farmar-Vujacic-Ariza-Walton-Turiaf unit played together in November for a brief period so that option is a possibility.  In addition if Jackson is looking for foot speed that lineup isn't a bad option as it is very quick and will give them an advantage against either San Antonio or New Orleans.

    However from the looks of it Ariza will replace Walton in the second unit and one of the Big Three will remain on the floor with the second unit meaning that Walton will have to be the odd man out. 

    Hey Bill, you might want to send your son a few ice packs during this intense heatwave your son is feeling.