From effectively the moment he took over, JJ Redick has emphasized how important Anthony Davis is to this team. Last season felt like a passing of the torch from LeBron James to AD as the franchise’s leader moving forward.
Now, he looks set to be emphasized even more. At Redick’s initial press conference, he made it clear that AD would be the “hub” of the team. This summer, he’s only gone on to further highlight how important he will be this season.
Redick traveled to Paris to watch Davis and LeBron play in the semi-final of the Olympics. On Tuesday, he appeared on “The Lowe Post” podcast with Zach Lowe and discussed his growing relationship with AD.
“Spent some time with him, went to a lovely dinner in Santa Monica a few weeks back. We’re going to empower him as much as he wants to be empowered. If he wants to be First Team All-NBA and wants to be in the MVP conversation all year long, we’re going to empower him to do that.”
Davis can, if healthy, be in the All-NBA conversation and even the MVP talk. And it looks like the Lakers are willing to play a style showcasing his skill set.
At his best, AD has been among the cream of the crop in the league. His best stretch of basketball came in the bubble and included him shooting jumpers at an elite level.
Could we see the return of his jumper this season, too? Well, Redick seems to think he has a potential solution to his shooting woes.
“I have a theory around that. I have a theory around that. Not one I’m willing to share publicly…I have a theory around that. And you know what, if my theory proves correct, I’ll share it with you later in the season.”
Darvin Ham said that he wanted AD to shoot six 3-pointers per game about this time last year and we saw how effective that was at fixing his jumper.
Jokes aside, there might be some reason for optimism if a jump shooter as prolific as Redick might have some thoughts on why AD’s jumper has gone awry.
If he can get his jumper even close to where it was in the bubble, then AD really could play his way into the MVP conversation this year. And even if not, Redick sure sounds like a coach ready and willing to lean on one of his stars.
