Anthony Davis’s Christmas wish is probably to play power forward full-time now that he has returned to the lineup. But the Dallas Mavericks can’t play Santa Claus this year. Davis has to embrace the grit and grind of the center position if the Mavericks are to have any chance of salvaging this season. He and the Mavs are just better when he plays center full-time.
The centers of old were big and bulky and did the majority of their work in the paint and under the basket. Davis represents the center position’s evolution at its highest level. A big man who can score at all three levels and is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate every season because of his perimeter mobility and his ability to recover and protect the rim. He’s a 6-foot-10 specimen with the fluidity of a guard. And that’s not by chance.
Davis played guard in high school before a surprising growth spurt transformed him into a top prospect. He was 6-foot-2 during his sophomore year and grew to be 6-foot-10 by his senior year. Making him a center with guard skills. And therein lies the problem. Deep down, Davis views himself as a more perimeter-oriented player instead of someone who makes his bones on the block.
Anthony Davis has to accept that he is a center for Dallas to flourish
Davis pushed for the Los Angeles Lakers to trade for a center last season so he could play more power forward. Instead, they traded him to the Mavericks.
Coming to Dallas excited Davis, as he joined Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in the frontcourt. He finally got to play with two high-level centers, allowing his shift to starting at the four a natural one.
He prefers shooting the jumper rather than grappling underneath the basket for prime real estate. He loves to spin off his opponent and catch a lob dunk, but he doesn’t enjoy the physicality required to seal his man under the basket for an easy two. The latter requires quite a bit more blood, sweat, and tears. And Davis doesn’t fancy himself as a Winston Churchill apologist. Davis feels playing center full-time causes him to get hurt. But the onus is on Davis to prepare his body in the offseason for the rigors of an NBA 82-game season and beyond, along with the brutality of life under the basket.
Unfortunately for Davis, the Mavericks' offense seems to run at full throttle when he’s playing the five. The Mavericks can play inside or outside with Davis in the lineup, which gives players like Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving more room to operate one-on-one, and it also gives shooters like Klay Thompson more room to operate on the perimeter because teams have to account for Davis’s offensive prowess and presence on the offensive glass.
Davis can also remix the pick-and-roll by rolling to the basket for the dunk or opening up for a pick-and-pop jumper. Or you can play traditional basketball and just dump it down low to him in the post and let him operate by posting up or facing up his defender and blowing by them.
Davis is also an adept passer who could utilize Gafford and Lively II in some high-low action to help get them some easy buckets at the rim. Davis’ mobility at center also draws out the opposing team's big man into unfamiliar territory and opens up the lanes for slashers like Flagg and Irving. All of this keeps the defenses guessing while also giving the Mavericks' offense the stability and connective tissue to establish a healthy rhythm to their attack.
The Mavericks currently rank seventh in limiting opponents’ field goal percentage. And that will only improve with Davis back in the lineup long term at the five spot. But Dallas desperately needs Davis to anchor their offense (until Irving returns), which currently ranks last in the NBA.
Davis’ full-time return to center gives the Mavs a guy they can give the ball to when the offense breaks down, and they need a bucket. Plus, Flagg seems to be turning it up a notch after his recent 35-point explosion against the LA Clippers this past Saturday, and Klay Thompson is showing signs of life after notching 23 points in the same game with six 3-pointers in the second half.
Even though Davis may fancy himself a power forward, the Mavericks need him to be front and center. Literally.