Bazemore is a More Versatile Offensive Threat Than Ariza

It is rare that you will find Trevor Ariza doing more than being a spot-up shooter or running the floor in transition. An advantage that the Houston Rockets would have with Bazemore is that he is more capable of being a playmaker than Ariza and that can be beneficial in a playoff setting. It is something that could have definitely helped the Rockets this year.

Let’s not forget that the Rockets missed 27 consecutive shots from beyond the arc against the Golden State Warriors during Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. We also can’t forget that Ariza had no points and shot 0-of-12 from the field with 9 attempts from the perimeter. The playoffs are a setting where role players often stop making jump shots.

While Kent Bazemore wasn’t an efficient playmaker last season for the Atlanta Hawks, I do believe that he would benefit from a condensed role where he attacks within the flow of the game. Also, he would be able to benefit from better floor spacing with the Rockets compared to the situation that he had last season.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that Bazemore was almost as efficient of a scorer in transition as Ariza last season and that was the other main component of Ariza’s offensive impact outside spot-up shooting. For reference, Bazemore produced an excellent 1.309 points per possession in transition last season while Ariza produced 1.313 points per possession.

An overview of the offensive comparison is that Bazemore was more efficient in spot-up and transition than Ariza and those two areas accounted for 65.6 percent of Ariza’s offensive possessions. In addition to that, Bazemore is more capable of running a pick-and-roll, handling the ball in transition, coming off screens, and could be better in Houston at driving out of spot-up within the flow of the game.