Los Angeles Lakers: Why they should use Anthony Davis as a roll man next season

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is open to playing more minutes at center during this upcoming season. Davis informed Russell Westbrook during a dinner that he was open to switching from power forward to center for the team’s betterment.

Although it is a nice gesture, Anthony Davis moving over to center is not what the team needs to succeed. Davis would have to alter his offensive role substantially for the team to have a better shot at winning a title. Davis has spent most of his time on the offensive side of the ball in the post, as post-ups accounted for 21.95 percent of his possessions, averaging 4.9 per game.

Let’s take a look at why using Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis as a roll man would increase the efficiency of LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.

When Davis is in the post, the team usually has three of his teammates standing behind the 3-point line trying to get defenders away from the basket. For example, midway through the fourth quarter in a road game against the San Antonio Spurs, Davis was being guarded by DeMar DeRozan.

Consequently, Davis decided to go towards the middle of the paint, just above the restricted area, giving LeBron James a clear passing lane. James passed him the ball, and Anthony Davis immediately attempted a hook shot over DeRozan.

While Davis was in the paint, James, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Avery Bradley stood behind the 3-point line. Davis’ teammates, standing behind the 3-point line, forced three Spurs’ defenders to be close to that line if Davis passed the ball to them. Therefore, Davis was able to have single coverage versus DeRozan.

Davis’ offensive sets would put his two co-stars in a position to struggle. James and Westbrook are below-average spot-up shooters, making less than 41 percent of their attempts since 2015. As a consequence, defenders would give him space whenever Davis is in the post. Therefore, it increases the likelihood that Davis will take a contested shot.

The team would be better off using Anthony Davis as a roll man more often. Davis averaged 4.8 roll man possessions per game, shooting 50.7 on four shots from 2015 to 2019. Davis has averaged 5.2 points per game as a roll man.

Despite Davis’ previous success, he saw a reduction in his roll man possessions over the past two seasons averaging 3.1 per game. He increased his efficiency, shooting 57.4 percent on 2.5 attempts, averaging 3.6 points per game.

Increasing Davis’ roll man possessions by 40 to 50 percent next season would allow the Lakers to accentuate the strengths of their other two co-stars, as Westbrook and James have thrived as pick and roll ball handlers.

James has been a pick and roll ball handler for 23.4 percent of his possessions since 2015, shooting 46.7 percent from the field on 4.5 shots per game. He is averaging 5.7 points per game as a pick and roll ball handler.

On the other hand, Westbrook has been slightly better in the role, shooting 49.3 percent on 5.5 shots per game. Westbrook is generating 6.4 points per game in the pick and roll during 7.6 possessions.

More importantly, the team is used to running pick and rolls as they run the set 14.85 percent of the time over the past two seasons, averaging 16.6 per game. The Lakers’ familiarity in the pick and roll, combined with James and Westbrook’s previous success within the offensive set, opens the door for the team to give 75 percent of the pick and roll possessions to James and Westbrook.

The team would have to stagger James and Westbrook minutes to make sure neither player is off the ball when their teammate runs the pick and roll. For example, Westbrook could run six pick-and-roll possessions while James is sitting on the bench.

Once Westbrook goes to the bench, they could give the other half to James and allow both players a chance to succeed without putting them in a position to fail. In conclusion, it is in the team’s best interest to use Davis as a roll man, as it would allow them to increase the effectiveness of James and Westbrook.