5 Ways Anthony Davis Can Improve Next Season
3. Three Point Shooting:
April 18, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23, right) controls the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
This one is somewhat of a luxury.
If you add a 35% three-point shot to AD last season, he would have easily broken the all-time PER record. A season like that would easily cement him as one of the most versatile power forwards of all time, and could have added a new dimension to the Pelicans offense.
Three Point shooting rim protectors are probably the rarest kind of NBA player there is.
How many can you name? Serge Ibaka, Rasheed Wallace, Dave DeBusschere? Bosh is a good outside shooter, but he’s more of a pick and roll defender then a rim protector, and Draymond Green is fundamentally a perimeter player who’s just sliding down.
6’10″+ players with elite defensive ability and outside shooting touch are insanely rare.
Davis being able to shoot threes consistently would also allow the Pelicans to shop Ryan Anderson.
Let’s say he starts the season hot from deep, and developed his face game all the way out to the 23 feet. Now you can play a four-out-one-in offense and create wider driving lanes for Jrue, Tyreke and Gordon, while shopping Anderson for a better small forward if need be.
The counter-argument is that you never want to take your best big man away from the basket. Some might argue you lose more than you gain by turning Davis into a spot up guy and not a traditional post up scorer.
I don’t think this argument holds much weight. First of all, Davis is already a semi-spot up guy. He consistently takes 18-20 footers, so it’s important not to see this as “Post game vs. Spot ups” but rather “20 foot spot-ups vs. 23 foot spot-ups.”
Secondly, it makes him a matchup nightmare for any traditional big man. Imagine him pulling someone like Zach Randolph out to the three-point line, Randolph would need to choose between closing out (which would allow Davis to drive right past him) or leaving him open for an efficient spot up three.
If it were 1994, then maybe I would be saying “Davis needs to add 20 pounds and work on his post hook!” but it’s 2015, and he’s got a shot at expanding his range and becoming the very best version of the rarest type of NBA player that exists.
Next: Counter Moves