Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham turned lots of heads recently when he issued a surprising challenge for big man Anthony Davis. Ham said that he asked Davis to uncork at least six 3-pointers per game. That is quite a jump in perimeter activity from Davis that Ham would like to see from Davis, who never attempted more than 3.5 shots from behind the arc per contest in a season. Moreover, Davis only hoisted just 1.3 3-point shots per game in the 2022-23 NBA campaign.
However, it is unlikely to see Davis take that many 3-point attempts in the coming season even after Ham’s request.
Even if one completely takes away the 3-point shooting capabilities of Davis, he remains an immense figure for the Lakers. He is still a dangerous offensive weapon who can be pretty unstoppable around the rim. Shooting from deep isn’t exactly his cup of tea, as evidenced by the fact that he is a mere 30% 3-point shooter. Last season, he made just 25.7 percent of his 3-point attempts, though, that was quite an improvement from the 18.6 3FG% he registered in the 2021-22 campaign.
With the arrival of Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes to Hollywood in the offseason, Davis stands to play even more non-center minutes, which could lead to greater opportunities to go further out in the perimeter. But as Ham mentioned, it’s less about wanting Davis to purposely hunt for outside shots and more about having the former Kentucky Wildcats star sustain a significant threat level inside and outside.
For what it’s worth, Davis has not taken more than three attempts from deep in a game so far in the 2023 NBA preseason, though, he also has yet to log more than 22 minutes on the floor in a single contest. However, he is taking 5.3 3FGA per 36 minutes – a higher rate than his career-high 3.7 3FGA in the regular season.