Despite the recent whispers, we explore why Anthony Davis isn’t the answer that the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for
"“That would be amazing, like duh. That would be incredible.”"
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James said this in regards to the possibility of the team acquiring Anthony Davis through trade. However, one can argue that a Davis trade isn’t the best possible answer for LeBron and the Lakers in their quest to win a championship.
Lakers head coach Luke Walton is currently implementing several aspects of the LeBron James offense in his system. One example of the LeBron offense is when he dribbles the ball to the 3-point line and analyzes the entire defense. If one of the defenders is sagging off a shooter, he will pass the basketball to the shooter for an open 3-pointer.
On the other hand, if everyone stays home, he will study everything about his defender to determine the next course of action. If the defender decided to sag off of him, LeBron would take the open jumper. But, if the defender played him tight, he will attempt to drive towards the basket for a score, to draw a foul or attract a double team.
LeBron’s use of the entire floor forces teammates to spend a significant amount of time in the role of bystander or spot up shooter. Unfortunately, spot-up shooting is one of the biggest weaknesses in the game of Anthony Davis as he has shot 29.58 percent (28.6+ 14.3 +33.7 + 31 + 32.6 +37.3 /6) over the last 5-plus seasons.
Consequently, it would put the opposing team in a good position defensively when Davis doesn’t have the ball because they could afford to leave him open to provide help defense elsewhere.
Unfortunately for Davis, LeBron hasn’t shown signs of changing as he has forced his teammates to adapt to him regularly. Kevin Durant alluded to this when Ric Bucher of Blecher Report asked why other stars haven’t joined James in recent seasons:
"“Kevin Love, he had to totally change his game to fit, to be a shooter. Which, I think, he deserves way more credit for switching his game. Bosh, same way. LeBron is a player that needs to play with guys that already know how they play the game—and shooters. Like, young players that are still developing, it’s always going to be hard because he demands the ball so much, he demands control of the offense and he creates for everybody.”"
Style of play isn’t the only thing that the Lakers would have to worry about with a potential acquisition of Anthony Davis as he has missed a significant amount of time due to injuries. Davis has missed 86 out of a possible 524 regular season games with various ailments like a strained left groin and a right elbow sprain. His injury history means that LeBron will be the lone Laker superstar on the floor during some games.
Therefore, it would behoove the Los Angeles Lakers to focus on acquiring a player like Damian Lillard. Damian has shot 39.8 percent (42.3 +34.9 + 41.7+ 41.7 +35.6 + 42.9/6) on spot up 3’s over the past 5-plus seasons which is 10.3 percent better than Davis.
Not only is Damian a better spot up shooter but he is also more dependable than his fellow draft class member as he has played 62 more regular season games than Davis.