How Anthony Davis could lead the Lakers to a top-five defense this year
Anthony Davis has the lofty goal of the Lakers being a top-five defense this season. History says that they can do it, with him leading the way.
Anthony Davis has no shortage of confidence when it comes to his own defensive skills. And for good reason.
Davis is coming off a season in which he finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting — and easily could have been higher — was named First Team All-Defense, and then anchored Team USA’s defense this past summer en route to their gold medal.
Further, AD has long been one of the handful of defensive players whose elite talents on that side of the floor cause teams to adjust their offensive schemes to account for his unique and wide-ranging skills, whether it’s the regular season or the playoffs.
And while Davis can joke that he remains underappreciated defensively or that he does not get enough credit, he has no qualms reminding you that he is that dude and that he can do anything required on that end of the floor to help his team. In fact, it was a comment made during Media Day about how good he thinks this Lakers team can be defensively that caught my ear.
In response to a question about what type of help Davis could use most when anchoring the Lakers defense, Davis quickly expressed pride in his own ability to defend whoever is needed without much assistance while also throwing in some lofty goals for this team (emphasis mine).
“I just try to do what I can to help the team win,” Davis said. “If that’s all over the floor defensively, guarding the one-through-five, I’ll do that... I don’t try to, especially defensively, rely on other guys, especially if it’s a one-on-one matchup where I’m guarding the ball just because I take so much pride on defense that I don’t think anyone should be getting around me.
“Defensively, I take too much pride in myself to be like, ‘Hey guys, I need ya’ll help.’ I try to guard whoever the matchup is one-on-one and if they do get by me and something helps, obviously the help is there. I just want us to be a top-five team in defense and I’ll be happy with that.”
This could, of course, be viewed as a bit of a throw-away line from a great player. I, however, don’t see it that way. And for two specific reasons.
First, this wasn’t the first time that someone associated with this season’s Lakers mentioned a top-five defense. It was not exactly the same circumstances or context as AD’s comments, but when JJ Redick appeared on Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Post Podcast” and revealed who his starting lineup would be, Redick said that he was choosing the group that went 23-10 down the stretch of the previous season and had a top-five defense when they shared the floor together.
When Redick said that, similar to when Davis did, my ears perked up. Mostly because I didn’t quite believe that was true, but also because it revealed a valuation of defense that is not often attributed to Redick when discussing what type of coach he will be.
For what it’s worth, of course Redick wasn’t lying when he said the group of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Davis had a top-five level defense when they played together.
In 389 minutes last season, that lineup had a defensive rating of 110.5. The Timberwolves led the NBA las season with a rating of 108.4. The Celtics were second at 110.6. So, yeah, Redick has belief that, if nothing else, the starting group he chose can defend well. But I digress.
The second reason I don’t treat what AD said as just a random soundbite in his media day availability is because it isn’t the first time in Davis’ tenure that he’s spoken about defensive goals in this way. Back when Davis was first acquired by the Lakers from the Pelicans, he said that he wanted LeBron to make an All-Defense team in the upcoming season and that he believed the Lakers team could be great on that side of the ball.
I always looked at AD’s proclamation as a coy form of leadership, challenging his superstar teammate to play hard on that side of the ball while also setting a certain expectation for the group to foster the type of defensive identity that could propel them that upcoming season.
Davis, as he has for his entire tenure with the team, led the way on that end, but his teammates — including LeBron — followed suit. The Lakers ranked third in defensive rating that season and AD was named First Team All-Defense.
Based on his history, then, I don’t treat Davis setting what can feel like unreachable goals as just a random quote or something to cast aside. In fact, it’s quite the opposite when it comes to AD making any sort of comment like this to the media, particularly since he’s been in Los Angeles.
Low key, Davis is one of the more truthful quotes in the league, often speaking bluntly and directly about whatever topic is in front of him. So, in this case, if he says he’ll be happy if the team is a top-five defense, I’m sure he believes that they can be.
And, in thinking about it more, the Lakers very well could do it. As noted above, the team’s starting five does have a history of performing pretty well as a group on that end.
After them, though, three of the team’s projected top four bench players all can make positive contributions defensively. Most notable among those is Jarred Vanderbilt who, as the team’s second-best defensive player overall, is someone with the type of defensive versatility that allows him to slot into multiple lineup types and still be a net positive.
Beyond Vando, Gabe Vincent and Max Christie both offer a defensive toughness on the perimeter and could support both AD and LeBron in the middle portions of games at the point of attack to allow the team to carry an effectiveness on that side of the ball for closer to a full 48 minutes.
Of course, it won’t be that easy. From the individual weaknesses of multiple rotation players to LeBron entering his 22nd season and turning 40 this year to the general challenges NBA offenses offer on a night-to-night basis, the Lakers have issues to address and overcome to get to the level both their coach and AD aspire to reach.
That said, from the comments both of them have made at the outset of training camp and the comments from multiple other players speaking to the greater emphasis on organization and attention to detail on that side of the floor, the Lakers sure seem to be taking several steps in the right direction.
You can follow Darius on Twitter at @forumbluegold.