The 4-team, 5-player deal that sent Trevor Ariza to New Orleans and Darren Collison to Indiana includes an obvious and not-so-obvious fantasy improvement. Collison will definitely increase his fantasy value now that he is guaranteed to be the starting point guard for the Pacers. Ariza’s fantasy change is not as clear; Last season in Houston Ariza and Aaron Brooks were the primary scorers (at least until Kevin Martin joined the team). Now he will likely be the fourth offensive option in New Orleans behind Chris Paul, David West, and Marcus Thornton.
However, being the fourth option, in addition to having CP3 at the point, will give him ample open shots, thereby increasing his efficiency. Look for him to maintain his 2 three-pointers per game but with a much better field goal percentage. Thanks to the lack of depth on the Hornets, (his only threat to a reduction in minutes is from the immobile Stojakovic), Ariza will provide very solid contributions in threes, rebounds and steals.
Many point to last year’s dive shooting percentage in Houston as his role changed from the defensive contributor on the Lakers to leader of the Rockets. But let us not forget the positives that he accomplished in Houston. He led the Yao-less and Artest-less Rockets to an above 500 record in the unforgiving Western Conference, which was an overachievement if you look at their roster. From a fantasy perspective, the 8 year veteran averaged a career highs in dimes (4 assists per game) and in scoring (15 points per game), exhibiting his ability to create for others and for himself. As New Orleans is currently without a backup point guard, look for Ariza to play a little point forward, while Paul has a breather, adding some assists to his fantasy line. Ariza’s defense is what will keep him on the floor and playing next to CP3 should result in a career year.
Written by Justin Hasan exclusively for WinMyFantasyLeague.com
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4 Comments
Last year Ariza was the gift and the curse. I used to watch live scoring sometimes and jus watch the bricks pile up. 33% FG was normal. But he is great at steals, puts up alot of 3s, rebounds. So there is alot of risk but he can fill the stat sheet. Playin in NO wont make him a better FT shooter. Id say he hits between 1-2 3s per game. Paul will certainly bring up that FG% tho.
With that said I got a steal in like the 9th round(8 teams) and Id draft him right there again
C, thanks for your response.
I agree. Ariza’s free throw shooting is well below average (65%), making him a better Head-to-Head League player since it won’t average more than 4 free throw attempts per game.
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