Amongst many things, the Los Angeles Lakers will have to prioritize Anthony Davis’ health. The first thing is making sure the personnel around him allows for his maintenance. In an effort to provide this structure, the Lakers brought back JaVale McGee and signed DeMarcus Cousins. Arguably, the Lakers have the league’s best frontcourt when you also include LeBron James. It appears that he will spend starting minutes beside two of the three when the season begins.
Davis at the power forward allows him to avoid the wear and tear from playing in the post. It also helps that he has a whole toolkit of skills that will make him a seamless fit in any lineup. Minus last year’s absences, Davis has proven relatively healthy playing in 75 games in back to back years (2016-18). The plan as of now is to keep his minutes at center down. He spoke about this at Saturday’s introductory press conference along with head coach Frank Vogel.
Pelinka shared that Davis said to him: “I’d love to have some 5’s that can bang with some length.” That was shown in bringing JaVale McGee back, signing DeMarcus Cousins. They want to protect Davis from banging each and every night, but of course he’ll play 5 situationally. https://t.co/PqsZZejF2u
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 13, 2019
The Lakers took full advantage on Davis’ preferences of how to build the roster. This also included Davis waiving his trade kicker to pursue Kawhi Leonard. When the team could not close the deal on this acquisition, they turned to the remaining market for reinforcements. The 14 players, including a few from last year, have combined to give them a great shot at winning the title while maximizing Davis.
As mentioned, teams are filling their rosters with wings that masquerade at the traditional forward spot. Davis is sure to meet his share of mismatches on most nights. The beauty of having a player with the size and skill of Davis are the endless options. One of those options include having squads face a James-Davis frontline. I wish your franchise the best of luck with stopping that.
