Two things can be true: The Lakers’ best lineups are with Anthony Davis at center, and Anthony Davis doesn’t want to play a lot of center.
New Lakers coach Darvin Ham said he would roll out something closer to the team’s regular season rotations in the last couple of Lakers’ preseason games. On Wednesday night his starting five had Davis at the five, LeBron James at the four, plus three guard/wings (Patrick Beverley, Russell Westbrook, Lonnie Walker IV). While it’s likely someone such as Kendrick Nunn will replace Walker in that five, that could be the starting lineup next Tuesday when the Lakers open the season against Golden State.
How does Davis feel about that? He answered in the third person — which is brilliant — but said he would buy-in for the team.
Anthony Davis on how he feels about potentially starting at the 5: "I trust Coach’s decision. I mean, I’m pretty sure he heard AD wants to play the 4, so he knows where I stand, but at the end of the day, I want to win, so if that’s me playing the 5, that’s what it’s got to be."
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 13, 2022
A small-ball lineup with LeBron at the four and Davis at the five puts pressure on that pair to rebound, something they did Wednesday against a tall Timberwolves team — Davis had 13 boards and LeBron 11.
LeBron on both him and AD finishing with double-digit rebounds: "The only way that we can gain trust (from) the coaching staff that we can play smaller and faster is that we rebound. ... That is our job. Our job is to clean glass if we play small at times."
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 13, 2022
Ham has got all the Lakers buying into the “I’ll do whatever is best for the team” mindset so far. His more forceful personality than his predecessor (Frank Vogel) has got the Lakers players buying in. For now. The real test comes when adversity hits, will these players continue to pull the rope in the same direction?
For now at least, expect to see more Davis at the five for the Lakers. It is their best lineup.
