**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

[pmatic]

"Anthony Davis doesn't look right this year. He rarely goes to the basket in post-up situations and is settling for way more jumpers (and missing more often as well). Do you think he's injured? Saving his body? Are Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell clogging the paint?"
- Jonathan

Since this question was posed, we've gotten an answer: Davis is in fact bothered by the Achilles tendonosis that sidelined him this week, which he told reporters has caused soreness around his right calf muscle for "a couple of weeks."

I think it's worth digging into how that might have affected Davis' performance.

First, let's note how high a bar Davis had to set for his still-excellent play -- he ranks 13th in the NBA in my wins above replacement player despite the time he missed this week -- to not look right. But there are meaningful differences, particularly in the interior play you mentioned (albeit not post-ups specifically, which are largely unchanged). Per Second Spectrum tracking, Davis' shot attempts in the restricted area are down from 8.0 per 100 possessions during the 2019-20 regular season to 5.8 so far this season.

That entire drop can be attributed to half-court possessions, where his attempts in the restricted area are down by more than a third (6.4 per 100 possessions to 4.2). It naturally follows that Davis isn't getting to the free throw line as often -- 8.3 attempts per 100 possessions, down from 11.7 last season and his lowest mark since his rookie season.

It's interesting that this trend predates when Davis said the soreness in his right calf began. In fact, his rate of half-court attempts in the restricted area is actually up slightly in the past month. And his free throw rate was lowest at the start of the season. Over the first four games of 2020-21, Davis attempted just 13 free throws, his second-lowest four-game total with the Lakers. That suggests there's something more than just the injury going on here.

At first, I was skeptical of the hypothesis that it had to do with the Lakers' centers given Marc Gasol is providing more floor spacing than Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee did last season. And it's true that Davis' half-court attempts in the restricted area per 100 possessions were better when he played center in 2019-20 (8.0 per 100 possessions) than so far this season (6.9). But I was probably missing an important point, which is that Davis hasn't played center very much this season.

According to analysis of data from NBA Advanced Stats, Davis has played just 12% of his minutes this season as the Lakers' center as compared to 40% last season. He's played more frequently with starter Gasol (53% of his minutes) than McGee (40%) and with backup Montrezl Harrell (34%) than he did Howard (20%). This might be by design to save Davis from additional wear and tear during the regular season. If so, we can expect AD to look more like himself when the Lakers turn more frequently to smallball lineups in the playoffs like last season, when Davis played 60% of his minutes at center.

Do the Lakers need more from Anthony Davis?

From Lakers frontcourt issues to debating All-Star selections, Kevin Pelton answers your questions.

www.espn.com

 

[reconic supreme]

Good lord all the conference finalists besides LA have been down bad.

Feel like if the Lakers ran it back with the old squad we'd be right there with them.

 

[pmatic]

I thought Pelinka was going to bring most of the team back, and I was actually for it because I liked the team so much. But I'm glad he infused new blood.

 

[tupac003]

I love trez and Dennis...

I think the only mistake was D12...and to this day I still don't know who to blame.

 

[pmatic]

LOL. Another slow start.

 

[tupac003]

Another slow start.

 

[pmatic]

The team decided to play tonight.

 

[tupac003]

Freethrows man.

 

[pmatic]

Looking like rookie Kuz out there cutting to the basket.

 

[obeahmyal7]

Did Anthony Davis change his free throw routine?

 

[pmatic]

Stop dumping the ball to AD. It's not working.

KCP is drunk too.

 

[DLF]

Davis needs to take 2 weeks off. This is ridiculous. Are we playing him til he pops that thing?

 

[tupac003]

Not good....

 

[yobyellav]

Ad needs to chill before that Achilles tear. We can stay afloat without him.

 

[grogu]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu#k

 

[DLF]

Ad needs to chill before that Achilles tear. We can stay afloat without him.

The coaches and medical staff are all liable. How stupid can you be to play him. Give him1 month off. Let him sit on his *** all day. And being him back with 25 minutes restriction.

 

[drewsone]

Shouldn’t have ****ing let him play
Man

 

[tupac003]

26-6 run.

Damn

 

[drewsone]

Possed RN man

 

[fearless]

jesus besides AD and Lebron, everyone is so fking trash

 

[DLF]

jesus besides AD and Lebron, everyone is so fking trash

Vogel

He’s horrible offensive mind. He has Harrell and Shroeder and sets NO sets for him

 

[pmatic]

Need more from Schroder.

 

[tupac003]

 

[tupac003]

Not looking good....

 

[drewsone]

Gpraying to god that it’s just sone sort of weird aggravation and not a tear