The Los Angeles Lakers have officially passed the baton from LeBron James to Anthony Davis as the franchise player. It's a landscape-altering decision that embraces the reality of a 31-year-old Davis potentially having more staying power than a soon-to-be 40-year-old James.
That decision has inevitably created questions about what new head coach JJ Redick means when he says that Davis will be the, "Hub of the offense."
It will take time for the comments to materialize on the court, but Redick has doubled down on the statement. He plans to prioritize the qualities that make Davis great when designing his offense, and doesn't believe that approach will negatively impact his defensive play.
Per Mike Trudell of NBA.com, Redick doesn't envision Davis' importance on defense limiting the essential role he'll play in the Lakers' offensive system.
"He’s going to be featured on offense no matter what. He’s going to be featured. He’s going to have the ball. We’ve talked about him being an offensive hub for us. To me, everybody says, ‘Oh, Anthony Davis is great on offense but his real value is defensively.’ His real value is just being Anthony Davis, and the fact that he’s an elite two-way player."
It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out, but it's hard to fault Redick for wanting to bring the best out of Davis on both ends of the floor.
JJ Redick wants to showcase Anthony Davis as an elite two-way player
Davis is coming off of a season in which he was the only player in the Association to earn both All-NBA and All-Defense honors. He was dominant on both ends of the floor, averaging 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals on 55.6 percent shooting from the field.
Davis ranked No. 1 in the NBA in second-chance points, No. 3 in rebounds and double-doubles, No. 4 in blocks and points in the paint, and No. 15 in points on a per-game basis.
It's hard to imagine Davis playing any better than that, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. Under Redick, it appears as though the ball will flow through the 31-year-old on offense, whether directly or indirectly.
That should create more scoring opportunities for Davis while also helping to collapse opposing defenses and create more open looks along the perimeter.
Davis' teammates will face the tall task of improving on defense and shooting with more consistency. In regard to the former, Los Angeles ranked 28th in the NBA in three-point field goals allowed and also finished in the bottom half of the Association in Defensive Rating.
On offense, the Lakers posted the eighth-best three-point field goal percentage in the NBA, but did so while ranking 28th in three-point field goal attempts.
Playing through Davis will mean tasking his teammates with improving in both of those areas. He thrives at scoring inside and is as great as any big at contesting perimeter shots, but Los Angeles can't leave him on an island in those two areas.
Thankfully, Redick seems to recognize where the team went wrong a season ago and plans to support Davis' talent with a system that simplifies his success.