Less Center Time For Anthony Davis
One of the things that the Los Angeles Lakers were going to make a concerted effort of doing more this season was playing Anthony Davis at the center spot. Davis is one of the best big men in the NBA, but when he moves over to center, he is truly dominant.
There are virtually no centers that are athletic enough to keep up with him on the perimeter given his adept ball-handling skills. When a team puts a more athletic, smaller player on him, he has the size and strength to go into the post and dominate as well.
He is a matchup nightmare, but with Trevor Ariza’s injury, the Lakers may have to put the Davis at center minutes on hold. Right now, the only players that can soak up minutes at the power forward spot other than him are Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
You do not want to run those guys into the ground before Christmas, so we could see more of Davis at the 4-spot with Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan receiving more minutes.
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This would more closely resemble the minute structure of when the Lakers won the NBA title in the Orlando Bubble. Howard or Jordan would start the game and the other would be the direct backup. Davis would then be worked into the mix at the center spot periodically throughout the game when it was most advantageous.
That is likely the strategy we will see to start the season. The Lakers just don’t have the personnel currently without a healthy Ariza to deploy Davis nearly full-time at the center spot like they had hoped.
