Tarik Black was once a bright spot for the Los Angeles Lakers, but times have drastically changed.
Tarik Black was a pleasant surprise out of last year’s rookie class. Beginning his career with the Houston Rockets, he made a name for himself filling in for Dwight Howard during injury. The Los Angeles Lakers were able to use their keen eye for talent to scoop up Black after he was waived.
Between both the Rockets and Lakers, Black started 39 games contributing relentless energy and effort.
A modest line of seven points and six rebounds capped off Black’s first season, and he was able to finish the season confident that he had a fighting chance at cracking the Lakers’ roster.
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After cuts were made this summer, Black’s confidence stood true going into his sophomore campaign. The team elected to bring him back over younger players like Robert Upshaw and Jonathan Holmes. Considering the need for development, Black’s return was a pleasant surprise and reminder that his performance last year was valued by the front office.
Making the team over players with potentially higher ceilings means that Black may have found a role on this rebuilding Lakers team. At 24 years of age, Black provides enough youth and experience to provide a bridge to their younger core. Little did Black know, but his goodwill from the prior year didn’t quite translate to the new season.
After averaging 21 minutes per game last season, Black has only played in eight games at nearly half the time (11.4 minutes per game). He’s fallen out of the rotation, even losing time to rookie Larry Nance Jr. and rarely used big man Robert Sacre.
In comparison, Black brings much of the same things that Nance and Sacre do, but there’s no clear reasoning that he hasn’t found a way into the rotation.
Tarik Black w/ Lakers, per 36:
— Silver Screen and Roll (@LakersSBN) December 8, 2015
11.4 REB, 11.3 REB, 57.1 FG%
Bobby Sacre w/ Lakers, per 36:
10.4 PTS, 7.8 REB, 43.8 FG%
With this year’s team, Black’s rim-running and rebounding ability appears to be much-needed. Aside from Brandon Bass masquerading at center, the team has no depth behind Roy Hibbert. You’d think that Black takes some, if not all of the remaining minutes to go.
There’s certainly plenty of basketball to be played this season, 61 games to be exact, and Black could emerge back into significant playing time in any of those games. Unless there’s an untold story about Black disrupting the chemistry of the team that we don’t know about, I’m not sure where or why he’s being hidden.
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With head coach Byron Scott benching Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, there could soon be a chance for Black to get some playing time. For now, fans will have to wait until Scott sees fit to allow Black to find his way back onto the court.