11 Houston Rockets' role players who will never be forgotten

10. Trevor Ariza

Although Rockets' fans final memory of Trevor Ariza was a 0-for-12 outing (0-for-9 from three) in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals, he provided much more than that for the franchise. Ariza could be relied on to play elite defense and hit threes, and that was his role for his final four years with the Rockets.

Ariza was one of the better 3-and-D players in the league in his prime and his jumpshot was money from the corners. Ariza knew his spots on the floor offensively and made sure to go to them early in the Rockets' sets, making it easy for James Harden to find him (and Chris Paul).

Defensively, Ariza was far and away the Rockets' best wing defender in his first season in Houston, as his 7-foot-2 wingspan made it difficult for opposing wings to score on him. Ariza was a 35.4 percent 3-point shooter with the Rockets and finished within the top-15 of the league in 3-pointers made for three consecutive seasons (7th in 2014-15, 12th in 2015-16, 14th in 2016-17).

If there was any doubt about Ariza's importance to the Rockets, take a look at the following quote from Chris Paul, former Rockets guard, in which he explained how losing Ariza in 2018 led to the Rockets' eventual demise.

“People don’t realize, that’s the biggest thing that we missed. That was tough when we lost [Ariza] because he sorta was like the glue. He was that glue for our team.”