Trevo Ariza played the entire 2020-21 season as a member of the Miami Heat. Before that, the last time he played a full season for a team was in 2017-18, the second time he played for the Houston Rockets for the last time he played four seasons. Sadly, Ariza seems to be on the verge of being "purged," playing for four teams in the years since he played for the Rockets until he signed a one-year contract with the Heat last offseason.
Now, he's back with the Los Angeles Lakers, where Ariza played for two years — that was his best physical time, from 2007 to 2009, and led the team to championships in his final year. But Robert Pelinka and the Lakers' coaching staff had to hope he still had enough ability to help them, and a decade later, his defensive prowess and versatility will once again be an urgent need for the team.
Ariza has shown his ability to be a reliable three-point shooter in the past, but from this list, the other side of the ball seems to be where the Lakers need his help more. With LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis present, defensive concerns always seem more important to role players than their contributions on the offensive end.
Also, in 2021, given the large number of offensive geniuses in this position in the league, it's always important to have solid wing defenders. The Lakers don't have much depth on the wing, Ariza and Kent Buzzmore are likely to fill all the time when LeBron goes off, while Cameron Anthony is likely to continue in the No. 4 spot he has occupied over the past few seasons.
Although Ariza has long been considered a wing player because of his 6'8'' height, he spent more time defending the opposing team point guard last season than any of the other four positions. Specifically, according to B-Ball Index, he spends 30% of his time defending point guards (followed by big forwards, 27%). That could be more of the Heat's roster last season — Avery Bradley was out of the way for a long time with injury, and Ariza had to defend the opposing offense's arrows.
Ariza's time defending point guard reflects more of what Eric Spollstra expects of Ariza – not just a transitioner in a change of defense. You can see Ariza picking point guards like Damian Lillard, Kobe White and D'Angelo Russell (according to NBA.com Ariza had the most defensive time last season) as their counterparts and achieving varying degrees of success (and failure).
But despite his troubles defending certain positions, Ariza remains the best at the Lakers' defensive diversity of roles in the 2021-22 season, suggesting that his versatility may have been over-amplified on the Heat, as Spoelstra may have asked him to do too much defensively with some of the fast, young point guards.
When looking at the Lakers' roster, it's doubtful whether Ariza will often defend point guards. There are concerns about Westbrook's defense, but for quite some of this season, he will be defending the No. 1 position of most opponents. In addition, Ariza may play with Kendrick Nunn and Taren Horton-Tucker, who has recently been challenged by Vogel to defend the best players in the opposing team. With a team of the best offensive players as possession players, if the Lakers want to give players like Horton Tucker a bigger platform to show themselves, THT may be placed to defend the opposing point guard more often than Ariza.
The Lakers' roster allows Ariza to return to defending the opposing team's flank position, which is also his most natural defensive role. Spending less time defending opponent master control will also put Ariza more on the weak side, which will allow him to wreak havoc on the passing route with a crazy 7'2'' arm span — a highlight of his defense last season, with steals per 75 rounds and turnovers against opponents (according to the B-Ball index) capable of outpacing 90 percent and 89 percent of the league's players, respectively.
Enough has been said about defense, though. How was Ariza's attack? Well, luckily the Lakers aren't short of players to play, as Ariza doesn't have much to do with that — while he's a great no-ball running option (ranked 87th in the b-ball index for 75-possession run impact), you can get some assists from LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.
Sadly, Ariza shot just 35 percent from three-point range last season, and in his 21 games with the Trail Blazers in the second half of the 2019-20 season, he shot a whopping 40 percent from three-point range. It's also questionable whether James and Westbrook's frantic offensive savvy can dramatically improve Ariza's shooting quality this season — because he surpassed 88 percent of the league's players last season with three-pointers (according to the B-Ball Index) — and he just doesn't seem to be able to shoot the ball into the basket with an available three-pointer, and last season his empty three-point shooting percentage was only 34.8 percent.
I know. The last thing the Lakers need on the court is another older player with problem shooting. However, if the 36-year-old Ariza gets enough rest to still play in the game, Ariza's flank defense could force Vogel to play in the final lineup of the playoffs — and if that's not how he's playing defensively as a winger this season, then the Lakers' depth in that position will be even more stretched.
Fears of Ariza being eliminated before the end of the season are absolutely there, but hopefully it won't be too much of a problem and the team will be able to give these players a break because they have talent from top to bottom. Newly signed Wayne Ellington even recently confirmed the idea.
Speaking of Ellington, The Athletic recently reported that he and Ariza are likely to be the other two members of the starting line-up alongside Anthony Davis, James and Westbrook. The player's pairing with the Lakers' Big Three presents an interesting balance of strengths and weaknesses, a symbiosis for two useful players who both have obvious flaws. When Ellington is on the floor, Ariza's slightly below-average three-pointers won't have much of an impact on the team's space — the latter shooting 42.2 percent from three-point range last year — and Ariza's flank defense will allow Ellington and his poor defense (3rd percentage point) D-LEBRON (each B-Ball Index) to assign to the opponent's worst offensive wing/guard.
While Frank Vogel has developed a habit in the past of not relying on his starting line-up to end important games, Ariza does seem to be a player who can seamlessly transition from starting to coming off the bench. By the end of the year, he may not have the highlights of his offensive contribution, but his impact on the defensive end could be strong. He's one of the best winger defenders on the team (even he's one of the few) and the shift from a main defensive point guard to a major defensive striker can help him bounce back in an area where he's already good at it.
If that shift does happen, Ariza could end up being a key defensive role player for the Lakers championship again.