Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is the ideal big man for today’s NBA as he can do everything asked on either end of the floor.
Davis is able to space the floor and play inside the post, but defensively can switch onto smaller guards without giving up any rim protection. He is the primary reason why the Lakers have had one of the league’s best defenses the past couple seasons, but also why they have been able to play small while still retaining their size and physicality.
However, under head coach Frank Vogel the Lakers often utilize a traditional big man alongside Davis and the star believes he can play next to any type of center. “I don’t know, I mean, we can switch it up,” Davis explained. “We had two bigs last year in JaVale and Dwight. This year we had a stretch big and a big that plays in the paint so I think I can play either-or. We had Marc and I was playing the paint and then with Drumm I was playing on the perimeter.
“So I think my ideal big is whatever works, whatever fits our team. That’s ideal for me and we’ll draw schemes and things like that to make it work.”
Davis has had success playing next to traditional rolling bigs in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard, and this season looked comfortable playing next to a floor spacer in Marc Gasol. He and Andre Drummond did not get much time to gel together, but did show flashes how they could dominate the interior together.
It remains to be seen how the front office approaches the center position in the offseason, but all signs point to them giving the Davis-Drummond pair another chance to shine.
Davis on how Lakers can improve offense
Defensively, the Lakers should remain one of the best teams next season, but offensively they need to improve. Davis acknowledged this and noted he and the rest of the organization will work together to get back on track.
“We’ll go back, I know me and Bron will for sure and the coaches will too, go back and look at this series,” Davis said. “This wasn’t a great offensive series for us and figure out action that’s more effective with me and Bron in it together or individually and then continue to grow looking at the season overall and where we were effective this season.
“Even last year what was effective for us and adding new schemes in, new plays, coaches coming up with new plays. Just think about new ations that they can get involved in, watching other teams and some good action from other teams. And it’s also based on personnel, the team that we have. So we’ll think about it when we get closer to next season as far as schemes and plays and things like that for me and Bron.”
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