After notching back-to-back wins to move to 2-1, Anthony Davis is reportedly warming up to the idea of playing more center as he did in the second half of their last two victories.
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk said during an appearance on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast that he’s hearing that Davis isn’t as resistant to the idea of playing center ‘a lot.’ But one factor is that head coach Frank Vogel wants to keep all of his veterans engaged.
“I’m told that A.D. is definitely warming up to the idea of playing a lot at center,” said Ohm Youngmisuk on ESPN’s Hoop Collective Podcast. “I think right now (Frank) Vogel doesn’t want to lose any of his veteran players. If he were to start A.D. at center eventually, he doesn’t want to lose JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard.”
According to Basketball-Reference’s positional estimates, Davis has played 66% of his minutes at power forward while recording 34% of his minutes at center. According to the same database, Davis played 96% of his minutes at center last season with New Orleans. It appears that the Lakers and Davis are still finding that happy medium.
Vogel started Davis at center in the 2nd half of their win against the Utah Jazz, which forced Rudy Gobert to defend in space and the Lakers went to that look again at times in Sunday’s win against Charlotte. But even in the games Davis has played at center, he hasn’t done so exclusively.
He’s started all three games with JaVale McGee next to him but early on, Davis has had considerably more success at power forward alongside backup center Dwight Howard. The Lakers have outscored their opponents by 28 points when both Howard and Davis share the floor, according to NBA.com.
