Lakers Rumors: Anthony Davis not expected to play more minutes at center
By Nick Ziegler
Recent Lakers rumors are that Anthony Davis is not expected to play major minutes at center despite the injury to DeMarcus Cousins.
In the wake of DeMarcus Cousins tearing his ACL, recent Lakers rumors have been about what the next step for the Lakers will be before the start of the season.
Since Cousins was expected to play some major minutes for the Lakers this season, the loss will certainly be noticed. As a potential 20-30 minute a night player, the Lakers are going to have to make some serious adjustments.
The one sure thing for the Lakers now is that JaVale McGee will be the starting center next season. Many expected this to be the case anyway, but the injury to Cousins essentially made that a lock.
However, with the injury to Cousins, it was expected that we could see Anthony Davis more at the center position. According to Jared Greenberg, that might not be the case.
In the wake of the DeMarcus Cousins news a high ranking member of the Lakers tells me that they do not expect nor do they want Anthony Davis to play “big minutes” at center this season @NBATV
— Jared Greenberg (@JaredSGreenberg) August 16, 2019
It has been well-documented that Davis does not like playing center, and the only time we might see him at the position is if the Lakers go small to close out games. While Davis hasn’t suffered any major injuries in his career, he has been a bit banged up with little things here and there in New Orleans.
Keeping Davis healthy is certainly a priority for the Lakers, and they don’t want to risk him getting banged up too much at the center position. In addition to keeping him healthy, the Lakers also want to keep Davis happy.
As a free agent at the end of the season, the Lakers simply can’t afford to even come close to losing Davis this offseason. If he really doesn’t enjoy center and the Lakers played him there frequently, it could result in him becoming unhappy.
The Lakers are very fortunate to have McGee as a starting-caliber center on the roster, but they will likely need to add another big man. Davis certainly thrives at power forward, and the plan appears to have him there as much as possible next season.
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With some time before the start of the regular season, it will be interesting to see what the Lakers do to address the loss of Cousins. However, don’t expect Davis to be playing more minutes at center.