Breaking Down Anthony Davis’s Return For The Lakers
After missing 17 straight games with injury, the Lakers welcomed back Anthony Davis against the Nets. Here’s my breakdown of his return.
After a 17-game absence, where the Lakers went 7-10, the Lakers welcomed back star power forward Anthony Davis back to the court. The Lakers’ tumultuous season has been anything but fun. Frank Vogel is (apparently) riding a Del Griffith-like hot seat. The Russell Westbrook experiment has not worked out. Most of the role players LA brought in this offseason have been mediocre.
It’s been a rocky season filled with M. Night Shyamalan twists around every corner. Against the Long Island Nets last night, the Lakers controlled the game in all facets. For a moment, everything was peaceful and blissful.
I can’t say I expect the Lakers to win a championship this season. But, it isn’t unrealistic to see them start to win more. Here are all of my thoughts on Anthony Davis’s return to the court.
What Does Anthony Davis Bring To The Lakers?
Davis’s stat line last night was anything but impressive. When you think of a superstar, you’re not thinking of eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and four blocks on 38% shooting from the field in 25 minutes. That stat line rivals 1991 Chris Dudley, not a generational superstar.
(That joke was more costly than you’ll ever know)
AD’s first game back in nearly two months appears to be lackluster but wasn’t half-bad. Let’s look at everything the Lakers are getting with AD returning.
Offense
Davis didn’t do much scoring the ball, but he was a big help to the offense. He set a lot of screens, demanded double teams from the post, and was a vertical threat in the pick-and-roll. Scoring eight points doesn’t look great, but Davis did some great things in this game. Let’s look at some film.
The Lakers used Davis in a lot of pindown actions. Bradley scored thrice off such screens. Here, Malik Monk gets another wide-open 3-pointer.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never seen this action before. With Davis’s ability to stretch the floor, I think this action could pay dividends in the future.
The Lakers didn’t isolate AD on the wing like this often, but this is another thing they missed with him gone. Sure, Davis has been historically bad while shooting the ball this season. That didn’t stop the Nets from sending double-teams at him later in the game.
No matter what the numbers say, AD demands your attention.
Yep.
Defense
To no one’s surprise, the Brow’s biggest impact came on the defensive end. His four blocks highlighted just how much the Lakers missed him on that end. In his 17-game absence, the Lakers had a 115.1 defensive rating. That ranked 24th in the NBA over that time frame, showing just how much they missed his presence.
Davis plays this pick-and-roll perfectly. He doesn’t give Harden a lane to the rim while simultaneously taking away the lob to Sharpe. He then uses his alien arms to block the shot, easily his best block of the night.
| Lakers Defense WITH AD (28 games) | Lakers Defense WITHOUT AD (20 games) |
| 111.6 Opp PPG (T-24th) | 113.3 Opp PPG (27th) |
| 46.3% Opp FG (T-22nd) | 46.7% Opp FG (T-26th) |
| 108.6 Defensive Rating (10th) | 113.6 Defensive Rating (28th) |
| 19.3 Opp RA FGM (Worst) | 18.7 Opp RA FGM (3rd Worst) |
| 65% Opp RA FG (11th worst) | 62% Opp RA FG (3rd best) |
Rapid-Fire Thoughts:
- The Lakers paint defense was awful to start the year (even with AD)
- Even with that, the Lakers are much better defensively with Davis than without him
- Seriously though, why did the Lakers become a (somewhat) better paint defense when Anthony Davis was out?
Any way you slice it, Anthony Davis is going to help this team. His versatility on both ends will help sure up a diluted frontcourt. Now, it’s simply a battle of keeping the Brow healthy.
Can The Lakers Big 3 Function?
With Anthony Davis missing so much time, we haven’t seen much of the Lakers’ big 3. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. The Lakers are like a car crash that you can’t seem to look away from. The “best” thing about this trio is that they’re stuck.
Although rumors have been floating around for a John Wall trade, there are astronomically low chances that Westbrook gets traded. Despite the two sides mixing like oil and water, they’re stuck together. They can’t divorce, it’s unlikely there’s a compromise anywhere to be found, it’s a Mess with a capital M.
But, the question remains; Can The Lakers’ Big 3 Function?
Lebron + Westbrook Is Putrid
The Lebron/Westbrook partnership was not a good one. Even with Lebron completely changing his playstyle, I don’t know if the offense will ever be smooth less with Westbrook. His style of play has been anti-winning for a long time now. It’s not an attack on him, it’s just true.
(Ok, it was kind of an attack)
The James & Westbrook duo has played 906 minutes together, the most of any duo for the Lakers this season. Their plus/minus is 0. Not good, not bad, just average.
I don’t think that Lebron and Westbrook can coexist together. Lebron did push for the Westbrook trade, but in hindsight, it was a terrible idea. I think Raja Bell made a great point of this on the Bill Simmons podcast;
“When you are an aging player, and Lebron is that, you see players from your prime in a light they’re not in all the time anymore. You’re looking at it through your prism, right? I’m still that guy, so x, y, and z was my nemesis seven years ago – so he’s still the guy – but it doesn’t work like that.
Raja Bell on the Bill Simmons Podcast (Jan 20th, 2022)
I think Raja brings up a great point of how Lebron might have not seen Westbrook for who he truly is. Westbrook is a great player, but he’s not what the Lakers needed. Buddy Hield would have been a better fit and it wouldn’t have cost the Lakers as many assets as it did to get Westbrook.
The Lebron/Westbrook partnership isn’t great, but adding Anthony Davis to the mix certainly helps.
The Lakers Big 3, by the numbers & the eye
I saw some good things from this trio last night. Davis ran some screens with Westbrook & Lebron with pretty good all-around results. Davis’s floor spacing certainly aided Westbrook’s ugly perimeter game. You even saw how AD’s defense could help Russ.
This trio has hardly played together this season. Of the Lakers’ 48 games together, only 16 times have we seen them play together. A big reason we still have no conclusions from them is that we haven’t seen them play. 16 games isn’t a large enough sample size to judge anything, much less three polar-opposite All-Stars trying to fit a square peg into a hexagonal hole.
(Don’t ask me why I didn’t say circle, I couldn’t tell you)
In their 308 minutes of shared court time, this trio has outscored opponents by 17 points. That’s not bad, but it could be worse. With how little they’ve played with one another, I think this figure is bound to go up. The Law of Averages is in play here, right?
Anyway, I don’t think I can come to a decisive enough conclusion based on their limited playing time. However, there are things I can ask for.
1. Westbrook Has To Be Better, Not Perfect
Saying someone should “be better” is vague, but it works in this situation because Westbrook has to be better all-around. He has to be better without the ball. Whether he cuts off-ball or becomes a screener, anything to make him productive without the ball in his hands.
Secondly, he has to make more shots around the rim. For a player averaging the 6th most shots in the restricted area, he has to shoot better than 56%. Of the 29 players averaging 5+ shots in the RA this season, Westbrook is 2nd to last in FG%. The only player lower than him is Damian Lillard, who has been plagued by injury.
It’s too much to ask Westbrook to learn how to shoot or how not to turn the ball over. I’m not asking for perfection, just better.
2. Could Anthony Davis Learn To Shoot?
While I was searching up Westbrook’s RA stats, I came across one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen. The Lakers have three players averaging more than seven shots at the rim this season. I’m going to go on a limb here and say that this hasn’t happened since NBA teams used to travel by bus.
I doubt that Westbrook, someone more stubborn than Carl Hanratty, will change his playstyle. Lebron James has completely changed his game, shooting more outside shots than ever. Anthony Davis is somewhere in between.
He’s never shied away from shooting mid-range jump shots. But he might consider it with how poorly he’s been shooting. Since the Bubble, where Davis was brilliant, his shooting hasn’t been the same.
Before last night’s game against the Nets, Davis was averaging just 0.72 points per jumper. Of the 179 players that have taken 150 jump shots this season, Davis ranks dead last in efficiency.
Floor spacing would be less of an issue if Davis was anything better than the worst jump shooter in the league. If LA wants to be successful, Anthony Davis has to start playing like Anthony Davis again.
(Groundbreaking analysis)
What Is The Ceiling Of This Team?
I’ve called the Cleveland Cavaliers the weirdest team in the NBA. You can argue that the Memphis Grizzlies are the most fun. But there’s no denying that the Los Angeles Lakers are weird as hell.
With the playoffs rapidly approaching, the Lakers’ big 3 is a mystery. Frank Vogel is inches away from being thrown off the deep end. Other than Reaves, Monk, Johnson, and sometimes Melo, the role players are lifeless.
Even though there have been 50-ish games of basketball been played, we still know next to nothing about this team. With such a short amount of time to figure things out, what is the ceiling of this roster?
falsehope.exe
Are the Lakers better than Golden State? No
Are the Lakers better than the Suns? No
Are the Lakers better than the Grizzlies? No
Are the Lakers better than the Jazz? Maybe
In another loaded Western Conference, the Lakers aren’t out of it yet. They are out of the running for a top-3 seed, barring some sort of miracle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them land somewhere around the 4th to 6th seeds.
The Lakers are just two games back of the 6th seed. Is it impossible to see them stay healthy and make a run? With Anthony Davis, their defense becomes better. I think the Westbrook problem will be minimized.
As many reasons as you can give for this team not succeeding, would we be surprised to see them in the Conference Finals? The answer to that question is no.
The return of Anthony Davis immensely helps the Lakers’ chances to be successful. Now it’s just a matter of making a late-season surge into the playoffs. Even in another dead season, there is still life and light at the end of the tunnel for this Lakers team.
What Are Your Thoughts On Anthony Davis Returning? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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