The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to turn things around after last season’s disastrous outcome. With first-year head coach Darvin Ham taking things over, he will need to figure out the best way to utilize the team’s stars in LeBron James, Anthony Davis and, should he still be on the roster, Russell Westbrook.
The trio never quite got on the same page last season, but Ham has his ideas on how to get the best out of this Lakers team on both ends of the floor. Something that has been spoken about regularly over the past couple of seasons is lessening LeBron’s workload, and Ham apparently plans on doing just that.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, Ham plans to run the Lakers offense through Anthony Davis, and LeBron himself is on board with that:
Furthermore, the first-year head coach said one wrinkle he will implement and stick with is having the offense run through Anthony Davis, and James concurred, sources said. The team has been encouraged with Davis’ offseason progression and believe he’ll be in optimum shape to avoid serious injuries and carry a heavier load.
Davis has always had the talent to be the main offensive weapon and when he was originally dealt to the Lakers, it was believed that he would take the lead and allow LeBron to take more of a backseat. But as things would struggle for the Lakers, everything would eventually fall back on James’ shoulders and to his credit, he delivered more often than not.
It’s also worth noting that the Lakers have been encouraged by Davis’ offseason work as it was a source of frustration for many fans earlier this summer. The big man revealed that he hadn’t touched a basketball for some time following the end of the season, leading some to wonder if Davis really had that desire to be the best. But that has since been forgotten as Davis has been working with famed shooting coach Chris ‘Lethal Shooter’ Matthews.
The idea of running the offense through Davis is not a new one and it does make sense, especially when it comes to lessening the workload on LeBron. But that will require Davis to be fully engaged every night and, most importantly, to stay healthy this season.
Davis working out with ‘increased diligence’ since June
There is little doubt that the key to any level of Lakers’ success will be Davis. The big man is ridiculously talented and showed he can help the the team win a championship in 2020 and he has been working hard to get back to that level this season.
Davis has reportedly been working out with ‘increased diligence’ since June, which eased some concerns about his work ethic earlier in the offseason. With Ham planning on Davis being the focal point of the Lakers’ offense, the big man could be in for a huge year.
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