In the coming days, Anthony Davis will have plenty of time on his hands to add another element to his already-ridiculous offensive repertoire.
Davis, the New Orleans’ Pelicans 22-year old All-Star big man, has been working on his long-distance stroke, and we could soon be watching him launch shots from beyond the arc not just in desperate game-winning situations.
For the time being, AD is keeping his three-point shooting almost entirely confined to the practice floor, but that could change next season.
Per the NY Times:
Anthony Davis punctuated his activity at the Pelicans’ shoot-around on Thursday morning by spotting up from the corner, where he took pass after pass from an assistant coach. Davis sank six of his final eight attempts, all from beyond the 3-point line. His release was effortless, the ball traveling in a pleasant parabola. […] It should be noted that it was only practice, and nobody was defending him (or at least trying to defend him). But maybe, just maybe, Davis was offering a glimpse of the future, and the future looked ominous for everyone else.
“I mean, it’s already pretty much impossible to guard him,” the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson said. “If he were to add that 3-pointer?” […] Anderson let the question hang there for half a beat, as if the answer was obvious to anyone familiar with Davis and his vast assemblage of skills. Davis has a midrange game. He handles the ball with ease. He can post up defenders. And he carries a listed 220 pounds on a 6-foot-10 frame, his limbs as long as extension cords.
“It’s crazy because I remember thinking last year, How can this kid get any better?” Anderson said. “And obviously he’s that much better. So why not see him shoot 3s next? It’s not something that he necessarily needs. But it would just be another dimension that would make him that much tougher.” […] “He’s unlike anybody,” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Maybe the guy he’s most like is Kevin Durant, with that skill and quickness in such a big body.”
