The NBA regular season continued, the Lakers beat the Timberwolves 108-103, and Lakers forward Ariza played 12 minutes, scoring 3 points and 2 rebounds on 1-of-2 shooting, and still had no presence on the court.
In the last game, the Lakers beat the Blazers, and Ariza, who faced the old owner, did not perform much. In the whole game, he played 22 minutes, scoring 3 points and 4 rebounds on 1-of-3 shooting.
So far since joining the Lakers this season, Ariza has only played 4 games for the Lakers due to injuries and other reasons. Originally, the forward veteran who was recruited by Westbrook to join the Lakers was expected by the outside world, but this season, Ariza's performance was not ideal.
In the four games he played for the Lakers, Ariza scored 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting against the Suns, and in the other three games, he scored 3 points in each game. While the current overall shooting percentage is very high, at 70 percent and a three-point shooting percentage of 66.7 percent, this is clearly not Ariza's true level. Moreover, the sample of 4 games and an average of 2.5 shots per game is too small, and with Ariza's performance over the years, he does not have such a high level, let alone the fact that he is one year older this season.
As a 36-year-old veteran, Ariza hasn't shown much value in the Lakers yet. In Vogel's system, Ariza, who is good at defense, can shoot three points, and can also play both big forwards and small forwards, should have more use. But because of injury, Ariza came back late, resulting in him still need to fight for playing opportunities and positions again at the Lakers.
At his peak, Ariza was good. Whether playing for the Rockets or other teams, he's had good defense and three-pointers and is the league's top outside defender. In the past, when representing the Rockets against the Warriors, Ariza was the first choice to defend Durant, and also misplaced defense Curry to share the pressure for Harden. At the same time, every time the Rockets face super forwards such as James, Alphabet Brother and others, Ariza is also the Rockets' first choice.
Now, Ariza is James' teammate, but that's not enough to help him get better. Last season, the veteran, who averaged 9.4 points per game, now averages just 5.3 points per game for the Lakers. Because of the decline in performance on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, Ariza's presence in the last two games is obviously not enough, and if it were not for the 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting against the Suns, Ariza's overall stats this season would have been even more dismal.
Of course, Ariza still has a chance, but he still needs to work harder to compete for positions and show his value, otherwise, it is still in this state, and whether he can ensure his position with the Lakers is unknown. After all, he faces a lot of competition in the forward position, and the Lakers also urgently need forwards who can show a sense of presence on the court, whether it is offensive or defensive.