9 Players the New York Knicks gave up on way too soon

Trevor Ariza (R), New York Knicks. Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

7. Trevor Ariza

Close your eyes and picture Trevor Ariza. What basketball jersey is he wearing? Perhaps it’s a Los Angeles Lakers jersey, from when he was a key rotation player on the 2009 title team. Perhaps he has a Houston Rockets jersey, where he was a starter in two different stints, especially on those James Harden teams. The Orlando Magic? The Washington Wizards? You have plenty of options, as he has played for 10 teams in his career; the NBA record is 13.

What many might not remember is that Ariza began his career as a second-round pick of the New York Knicks in the 2004 NBA Draft. Ariza spent a season and a half with the Knicks, averaging 5.5 points in a small role across 116 games. He was then a throw-in along with Penny Hardaway in a trade for Steve Francis, starting Ariza’s pinball career around the league.

Ariza has played 1,118 games all across the league, emerging as one of the league’s premier 3-and-D wings. Only recently have those players started to get their due, and even so they are often the most undervalued player archetype. By his fourth season he was playing in the NBA Finals, and in his fifth he was a key rotation player on a title team.

The Knicks could certainly have used a player like Ariza, and it’s hard to imagine that the Orlando Magic would have insisted on Ariza as a part of the Francis trade. Ariza was on bargain contracts for most of his career and well outplayed them, and if the Knicks had not given up on him he could have been playing important minutes in the blue and orange.