(Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers will head into the 2023-24 NBA season as one of the deepest teams in the league, as GM Rob Pelinka and company were able to do a masterful job of constructing the roster during the summer.
Although most of the work the team’s front office did during the offseason was keeping the roster intact, the Lakers brass were still able to add some valuable pieces to the puzzle like Christian Wood, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, and Jaxson Hayes.
After two preseason games, we’ve gotten a taste of what the Lakers might look like during the upcoming regular season, with superstar forward/center Anthony Davis looking like he’s improved his shooting, especially from beyond the arc.
Davis has made so much progress in his outside shooting this year that head coach Darvin Ham wants the versatile veteran big shooting more from three-point range.
Not only does Ham want Davis shooting more from deep, but he wants him shooting a lot more, as he said he wants the one-time NBA champion shooting at least six attempts a game, which sparked a reaction from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on “First Take.”
.@stephenasmith does NOT want AD shooting more threes per game
“[Anthony Davis has] the 12th worst three-point percentage in NBA history. Why are you encouraging him to shoot more threes?” pic.twitter.com/fh6B3puyy3
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 11, 2023
Davis’ career-high number of attempts per game from distance is 3.5, and that came during the team’s championship run in 2020, with the veteran hitting 33% of his shots from deep that season.
That’s not great, but it’s not terrible either for a player who gets most of his work done in the paint.
However, bumping that number of attempts up considerably probably isn’t the wisest decision, as it could impact his all-around game and, therefore, be detrimental to the team’s success.
Only time will tell whether this turns out to be a smart move by Ham or a disaster, as it could easily go either way.
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