Anthony Davis will lead the Los Angeles Lakers in rebounds.
At this point, we are really seeing that beyond the three stars in Tinseltown, there isn’t a whole lot going on. Davis leading the Lakers in rebounding is the weakest call we’ve made so far though, for a number of reasons. The first is the question of health that will continue to linger over him for as long as he misses significant amounts of time.
Staying out of the paint and not banging with bigger players is one way to ensure there is less wear and tear on Davis’ body. The second is that he may spend more of his time as a stretch four, the place he has always wanted to be. This is far from guaranteed though, as the Lakers powered their way to a championship in 2020 with Davis manning the paint frequently.
But some combination of James and Thomas Bryant will free up minutes for Davis to stay away from the dirtier work involved in being a five. The introduction of Bryant in particular is an interesting one. In four seasons with the Washington Wizards, he averaged 6.2 rebounds per game. At his best, that per-game average rose to 7.2 in 2019-20.
So there is hope for Davis that Bryant can come in and be a more traditional center, and in doing so actually lead this category. Certainly, points or even assists is a place Davis would prefer to be leading the organization. But Bryant has only played in 170 regular season games in a five-year career (starting 108) and has averaged just over 20 minutes per game in that time.
Despite the injury woes of Davis last season, he actually led the Lakers in rebounding (9.9 per game), which should tell you all you need to know about their interior defense. When available, he played 35.1 minutes per game, so by virtue of time on the court and his length, he is going to lead the Lakers in this category once again.