Los Angeles Lakers: Anthony Davis will become best power forward in franchise history

Now that Anthony Davis is on the Los Angeles Lakers, will he become one of the all-time greats of the franchise?

Anthony Davis is special. I know it’s cliche, and you hear it all the time, but it’s the strict truth. The Lakers have had the most talent of any team in the league throughout their existence. From the George Mikan’s to the Jerry West’s to the Magic and Kareem’s to the Kobe and Shaq’s, you name it.

Now, they have have a player who has a chance to be one of the best players of all-time. At 26-years-old, Davis is just entering his prime. That is just scary for the rest of basketball.

This is one of the reasons why Davis will be the best power forward to ever wear a Lakers jersey.

As much talent as the Lakers have had in their history, power forward is probably the spot they’ve had the least talent in. Pau Gasol is likely going to be a Hall of Famer, and Lamar Odom had a terrific career despite never being a “star”. Karl Malone joined the Lakers for a season but it was of his career.

Gasol was a six-time All-Star and a two-time champ, but he is not the talent that Davis is. He has the accolades and at one point was an elite power forward but never considered a top-5 player in basketball.

Last season despite being in and out of the lineup with the trade talks, Davis managed to average 25.9 points, 12 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 1.6 blocks. He also averaged a career-high 3.9 assists.

His growth in the assist department and his ability to now shoot threes (33%) show that he’s only getting better.

Despite not having a ring, people forget he has had tremendous individual success. In the postseason he sports averages of 30.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 13 games.

Not only is he a dominant offensive player that has averaged 24 and 10 the last five seasons, he is a great defender. He already has three All-Defensive Team selections in his career.

There is no weakness or area that Davis isn’t at least good at. Before one could say he doesn’t shoot threes, even though he has a great mid-range. You can’t say that anymore. Before they say he doesn’t make the right reads as he averaged two assists to two turnovers. Now you can’t say that.

Davis is a matchup nightmare. He is 6’10″ with length and athleticism. He can handle the ball like a wing, and shoot it like one. Now he will bring the Lakers a rim protector they haven’t had since Dwight Howard and Shaq.

Davis not only will be the best power forward in Lakers history, he will be one of the best bigs to ever play the game. The key for his success is his health.

After all we did hear what Kobe said earlier last year about potentially trading for him when he was in New Orleans.

Look for him to be an MVP-candidate in year one with the Lakers as they’re looking to win a title for the first time in a decade.