The New Orleans Pelicans drafted what they believed to be the next franchise player–replacing the void left by Los Angeles-bound Chris Paul–with their coveted first pick in the 2012 Draft, Anthony Davis. Despite a gold medal win in the London Olympics and a solid, efficient rookie campaign, questions lingered over his worthiness as a top selection, especially with the Rookie of the Year award going to 2012’s sixth pick, Damian Lillard.
I think we can all agree that those questions were buried six feet under rather quickly into the 2013-14 NBA season. Davis has come into his own at a remarkable pace, as he emerged as a top-10 player this year. Just as Pierre the Pelican (pre-face lift) installed fear into every child’s (and adult’s) hearts and nightmares, Davis’ all-around game is a force that can destroy opponents’ dreams.
As Matt Moore of CBSSports brilliantly described, Davis is “the thing under the bed that the things under the bed are afraid of.” Oh, I forgot to mention–he only became legal to buy a beer two-and-a-half weeks ago, as he celebrated his 21st birthday on March 11.
Not one team was safe from the injury bug that traveled throughout the NBA this season, especially early on. The Pelicans were among the teams that were hurt by injuries the most, as their starting lineup was specifically targeted (Davis included). Therefore, fans weren’t treated to the full impact of what New Orleans is capable of doing. Yet, that also gave the fans a chance to see the individual greatness of Davis since his game stood out in the best of ways.
Let’s breakdown the numbers Davis put up in his sophomore season.
First, what makes Davis such a nightmare for defenders is that he is highly versatile on offense. According to Synergy Sports, the following chart shows Davis’ range of offensive attack.
Davis excels as the roll man in the pick-and-roll, as he has the skill and control to finish in a multitude of ways. He has the quickness and vertical leap to finish strong at the rim or the ability to use the space around him to knock down a 15-footer. Per Synergy Sports, 56.4 percent of his pick-and-roll possessions result in a successful field goal.
The Chicago native is downright dangerous, yet graceful, in the paint. He has a soft touch that is absolutely beautiful to watch, but can throw down (either assisted via an alley-oop or unassisted) with fury. His 7-5.5-inch wingspan allows him to transform into a tower in the paint on both ends of the court. He can either use his length to blanket and protect the rim (blocking) or get easy buckets on the offensive end down low.
As Davis’ game and range has improved over the season, Monty Williams has been more inclined to call isolation plays for Davis. As his confidence and ability to read the defense improves, iso plays will become more common for Davis and the Pelicans’ offense, especially since he can already recognize mismatches to either pull-up, post-up or attack the rim.
Davis has shown tremendous progress in his second year in post-up and spot-up play sets, especially on the left side. If he can get more comfortable with posting up or driving to the right, the defense will have an ever harder time trying to predict where Davis will attack.
Davis is well above average as a big in transition and in the open court. He is incredibly quick on his feet and he uses his insane wingspan and vertical leap to finish at the rim or put back misses by teammates. This isn’t limited to the fast break, as he can easily tip-in even his own misses, which accounts for the 13 percent offensive rebound play selection in the chart above.
Another quality that separates Davis from other star centers in the league is his ability to take care of the ball. For example, Davis holds a turnover ratio of 8.0 while Dwight Howard has a TO ratio of 15.9 (per ESPN.com). Davis has essentially split this season at the four and five position, hence Howard being used as a comparison of this stat. In other words, Davis is a dependable ballhandler who has a proven record of showing control with the ball in his hands, which is a enviable trait to have for a 6-10 big.
It is not too surprising that Davis is a dependable defender, as that was an expected quality that he displayed at Kentucky. However, his individual defensive impact numbers are quite staggering given this is only his second year and the Pelicans are not a good defensive team, with a 107.0 Defensive Efficiency rating (per ESPN.com).
Keep reading for more on AD’s drastic improvement…
Below is a chart for the top-five defensive impact players in the NBA. These stats show defensive stats including blocks and defending the basket within five feet of the basket and five feet of the shooter. The chart that follows illustrates Davis’ stellar defensive rating among the best defensive big men in the league. Both charts are provided by NBA.com.
This season, basketball fans witnessed the early breakout of a star. In fact, that has been recognized by fans across the country when they were ready to whip out their torches to protest that non-selection of Davis as an All-Star reserve. (He eventually replaced the injured Kobe Bryant for the West.) There will always be snubs in the ASG selection, but the mere thought (albeit a short one) of Davis missing the festivities in his team’s city was hard to imagine for most fans.
Perhaps the scariest thought in this breakdown of Davis? He is nowhere close to his peak. He is just getting starting, and still needs refinement. While it seems there really isn’t anything this 21-year-old can’t do, there are improvements to be made, in particular, getting physically stronger for post play. Simply put, Anthony Davis is only going to get better.
Take all this into account, and Davis is on the fast track to superstardom. If his impact continues at its current rate, and he continues to polish his game, he will be a potential MVP within five years. Even though Davis is blossoming into a player who is nearly incomparable, let’s take a quick look at what the two best players in the game did in their second season in the NBA.
LeBron James averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 0.7 blocks and 2.2 steals per game on 47.2 percent shooting with a 25.74 PER in his sophomore season. Kevin Durant averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.7 blocks and 1.3 steals per game on 47.6 percent shooting with a 20.85 PER in his second year in the league.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis is currently posting 21.7 points, 10.5 boards, 1.6 assists, 2.9 blocks (leads NBA) and 1.4 steals per game on 52.4 percent shooting with a 27.11 PER. On top of that, with Davis on the floor, the Pelicans score 120 points (per 100 possession) while giving up 104 points. Additionally, Davis could end the season by becoming the first player since Shaquille O’Neal (2000) to average 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
NOLA may have already been mathematically eliminated from the 2014 Playoffs, but the future looks bright in the Big Easy with the emergence of Anthony Davis. Do not be surprised if/when the day comes (probably sooner than you think) when Davis receives the MVP award, and the NBA is under the reign of “The Brow.” I mentioned he is 21 years old, right?
Could Davis be the best player in the world some day?
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