Anthony Davis Is the End Point of Small Ball

Anthony Davis Is the End Point of Small Ball https://t.co/l7Ef4rFTmZ via @ringer

— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) October 2, 2020

Davis is the end point of the small-ball revolution. He’s a 7-footer who plays like a guard on both ends of the floor. That’s because he was a guard before a late growth spurt in high school. To paraphrase SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell, Davis went to bed wishing he was a superhero only to wake up and become one. He went from getting scholarship offers from places like Cleveland State to Kentucky. A big man with his skill set has a natural immunity to teams downsizing against him.

The best matchups for him are players who are just as big, fast, and skilled. The problem for the rest of the NBA is that there aren’t many of those players out there. The Blazers, Rockets, and Nuggets found that out over the past month. The Heat just did in Game 1.

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His ability to score at will on almost any defender is why the Lakers have had so much success “going small” in the playoffs. Centers like Howard and JaVale McGee who can’t space the floor just end up getting in his way. AD’s true shooting percentage in the playoffs goes from 55.0 in 116 minutes with JaVale to 60.3 in 139 minutes with Dwight and 73.5 in 323 minutes without either.

It’s hard to overstate how absurd that number is. The leaders in true shooting percentage in the regular season were Mitchell Robinson (72.6), Damian Jones (71.2), and Nerlens Noel (71.1). All three did nothing but catch lobs. They didn’t create any of their own offense, much less shoot outside the paint. None had a usage rate above 15. Davis has a usage rate of 28.1 without Howard and McGee in the postseason. It should not be possible for a player to create that much of his own offense while being that efficient, especially against elite defenses.

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The Lakers are undefeated this postseason when AD has at least two assists. The scary part is that he still has plenty of room to grow in that area. LeBron said as much to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports before Game 1: “There’s a reason that we wanted him here. He’s a complete player, and now the world is seeing what he can do in games that matter. All he ever wanted was a chance. That’s all anybody ever wants. And now that he has it, I think you’re going to see him flourish, and he has. We haven’t seen the best of AD yet. He’s just scratching the surface.”