Anthony Davis: The NBA’s Most Underutilized Player
I’m going to come out and say it’s basically impossible for Anthony Davis to regress next season statistically. There is a historical trend of players slightly declining in their senior year, but Davis will be the exception. Mark my words.
The #1 criticism of the Pelicans guard trio from last season was that they didn’t defer to Anthony Davis at the end of close games. This is legitimate, but it goes so much deeper than just the fourth quarter.
It took the Pelican’s guards basically until the playoffs to realize Anthony Davis is a superstar, and adjust themselves accordingly. During the year, they were treating him like he was strictly a pick and roll man, and kept him on a fairly short leash offensively.
I’m not suggesting the Pelicans guards secretly hate Anthony Davis and were purposefully ruining his career or anything, but he was severely underutilized.
It makes some sense though, he was the youngest player on the team, had an inexperienced coach who let the guards make the decisions, and is too nice a guy to hound his teammates for more shots.
He was far and away the Pelicans best player, but he was also the youngest. That’s a complicated dynamic for a growing team to deal with.
Jan 9, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) and guard Tyreke Evans react following a basket to end the first half by guard Jrue Holiday (11) during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook tied each other for “Most made shots per game” in the NBA this season, but that’s about the only thing they had in common.
Despite each making 9.4 shots per game (1st in the league), Anthony Davis was taking just 17.6 a night while Westbrook hoisted up 22.0. That’s a 53% FG percentage for Davis, with a 59% True shooting percentage, while Westbrook shot just 42% on a 53% true shooting percentage.
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Over the course of the entire year Davis made 15 more total shots than Westbrook, while Westbrook missed 272 more shots than Davis.
That’s insane.
I’m not saying Westbrook didn’t do the right thing for his team (you’d rather have him miss then Dion Waiters) but clearly he benefited from an insane statistical inflation that Davis never even approached.
There’s more.
According to Hollinger’s Advanced NBA Player Stats page right here, Anthony Davis didn’t even have they highest usage rate on his own team. He finished the season at 25.9%, with Tyreke Evans at 26.2%.
Russell Westbrook’s usage rate? A whopping 38.2%.
There’s no excuse for an NBA superstar to NOT lead his team in both shots per game and usage. In fact, you can make a strong argument that Davis’ supporting cast was less talented this season then Westbrook’s.
Westbrook placed 10th on his team in FG% while Davis rested comfortably at #2, with Ajinca shooting 2% better overall. Additionally, the Pelicans had just one other player take more than 5 shots a game and shoot at least 50%, while the Thunder had four.
Ok I’m finished bashing Westbrook, we already stole his playoff spot so I think we’ve done enough.
Feb 4, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson (33) during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Thunder defeated the Pelicans 102-91. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The point is, what if Anthony Davis took 22.0 shots a game? What if he had a 38.8 percent usage rate? He arguably had a worse supporting cast than Westbrook, so what if he decided to go full-on “2001 Allen Iverson” and become his team’s entire offense.
Davis was tied for #1 in the league in made shots, while falling to 7th in attempts. He was 1st in PER, 2nd in EWA, 2nd in VA, and top 5 in 100 other abbreviated advanced stats while falling to 26th in usage rate!
What?!!!
If anyone ever asks you why Monty Williams got fired, there’s your reason.
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There may be other underutilized players in the NBA, but none of them are superstars. There is not a single team in the league who can benefit more from simply using a certain player more than the New Orleans Pelicans.
Ask yourself how much Davis’ stats can improve by simply taking about 20 shots a game, and approaching a 30% usage rate. Oh wait, You don’t need to, It happened already in the playoffs!
Adjusting to per 36 minute numbers (We don’t want AD averaging 43 minutes a game in the regular season) Anthony Davis averaged 26.4 Points, 9.2 Rebounds, 1.7 Assists, a steal, and 2.5 blocks on a 28.2% usage rate shooting 54% from the field. Oh yeah, and he did it against Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green who are two perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
Apr 23, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) dunks over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Smoothie King Center. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 123-119 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Even if AD doesn’t improve his skill set at all this offseason (unlikely), and even if Gentry doesn’t plan to increase the team’s pace and offensive strategy (even more unlikely), simply giving Anthony Davis an acceptable usage rate and shot attempts should pump him up to around a 26.5-10-2-1.5-3 stat-line throughout the season.
That’s being conservative.
Now imagine he does improve his skill set (highly likely), he adds a three-point shot (I have video evidence), Alvin Gentry does increase the team’s pace (dude was hired for literally that reason), and Davis becomes a facilitator in addition to simply a pick and roll option, what do you think he would average? I wouldn’t put money on anything lower than 28-10-3-1.4-3 and you shouldn’t either.
I rest my case. No team in the league can improve more by simply using one of their player more than the New Orleans Pelicans, and no player was more underutilized last season than Anthony Davis.
Case closed……