What a difference a year makes.
Last season, Anthony Davis was an All-NBA player but would sometimes disappear offensively. Game 6 against the Denver Nuggets is a prime example.
With the season on the line, AD played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, but only shot the ball once. The Lakers lost 108-106, ending their season.
With JJ Redick now in charge, one thing fans can be sure of is that there will never be a game where AD plays for an entire quarter and only gets one attempt at the basket.
The ball did find AD against the Raptors last Friday and often. He took 20 shots more than any other Lakers and ended the night with 38 points and 11 rebounds.
Under this new offense, Davis is putting up MVP-caliber numbers, averaging 31.8 points, 12 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. He is leading the Lakers in every single one of those categories and the entire NBA in points.
Redick explained this offensive philosophy further after the Lakers’ 131-125 victory over Toronto.
“It’s funny,” Redick said. “Tonight, we ran a few thing for him but it wasn’t like we featured him. It’s a testament to how we envisioned our offense. The ball is going to find our best players. We can certainly put guys in certain positions within our alignments and within our system to exploit their skills. But the ball is going to find AD if we play the way we want to play and then we always look for ways to feature him with a set call.”
One of the first things Redick mentioned this offseason was using AD as the hub for everything they do offensively and, six games in, his words and the team’s actions are in sync.
The defensive numbers and rebounding are similar to his averages as a Laker, but the point production is at a level he’s never come close to.
His best offensive year in L.A. came during the 2019-20 championship season when he averaged 26.1 points per game. Last season, he averaged 24.7 points in Darvin Ham’s offense.
The fact he’s seeing a nearly seven-point increase from last year’s numbers with virtually no change in his playing time is a testament to Redick’s offense and the Lakers’ ability to execute it. They are feeding AD, he is thriving and the Lakers are winning.
Two weeks into the season, the sample size is too small to declare this the new standard for Davis. However, if he replicates this production in November, we’ll be looking at a career year and legitimate MVP candidacy.
That should raise this team’s ceiling and place them in the top tier of the Western Conference, so let’s hope this is the new normal for the Lakers big.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
