1. Trevor Ariza
Trevor Ariza was one of several former Lakers that Rob Pelinka brought in last summer and he had to wait to make his debut with the team. Ariza had ankle surgery before the season began and he did not make his season debut until December 19th.
Before he made his debut, Ariza was expected to be a welcome addition to the rotation essentially acting as the team’s backup power forward. In theory, Ariza was meant to give the team some depth in terms of frontcourt defense, hopefully, become a defensive wing for the team to utilize.
That has not been what has happened this season. Ariza is playing like he is in the latter stages of his career and it really should not be a surprise considering his age and how little he has played in recent years.
After being expected to be an impact role player for the Lakers, Ariza is averaging only 3.8 points and 3.2 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game. He is shooting 34.1% from the field, 30.3% from three and Defensive Box Plus/Minus of exactly zero.
That means that Ariza is exactly average when it comes to defense while being one of the most inefficient players on the offensive side. It is really hard to convince a team to sign you when you are going to be 37 and are a complete zero on one side of the court… especially when he is not great on the other side.