Lakers News: Anthony Davis’s Assessment, Carmelo Anthony’s Comparison and More

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While preseason results should always be digested with several grains of salt, that doesn’t mean they must be outright dismissed.

Beyond the clues they can offer about regular-season roles and rotations, they are building blocks toward the actual campaign. Bad habits can develop early, which is probably why Davis didn’t hold back on his team assessment following L.A.’s 123-97 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.

“We’re way behind,” Davis told reporters afterward. “Getting movement on offense. Quality shots. Defensively, talking, getting our schemes right. Rebounding, very huge. We’re not boxing out. That was the main takeaway.”

Tell us how you really feel, AD.

This is where it’s worth noting the Lakers held out several regulars from that contest, including James, Westbrook and Anthony. But the Nets sat their stars too and still dominated most statistical categories.

While no one will (or should) blare any alarms after one exhibition, it’s promising to hear Davis hold himself and his teammates accountable even in a game that doesn’t count. That’s the right way to build a culture.

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Throw a dart at this Lakers’ roster, and there’s a decent chance you’ll hit an All-Star—past or present.

James, Davis, Westbrook and Anthony have a combined 44 All-Star selections between them. Include Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo and DeAndre Jordan in the equation, and there’s another 13 All-Star honors.

Say what you want about the age of this roster—Davis is the only one in that group under the age of 32—but it’s rare to see this much star power on the same team. In fact, when Anthony was pressed on how all the puzzle pieces can fit, he had to look to the Olympics for a precedent.

“This team, you know, I kind of look at like the USA Team, in a sense,” Anthony said. “There is so much talent, you got to figure out what works together, what doesn’t work together, how it works together, how it all comes together. Again, at this point, whatever we need to do, let’s do it.”

This might be one of the areas in which L.A.’s collective age could be an asset. Because the bulk of these stars are either fading out of their prime or removed from it entirely, it should be easier to set egos aside and focus on the common goal of winning a championship.

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The Lakers have options at the center spot. It seems they’re still exploring them.

They could go the traditional route with either Jordan or Howard, or they slide Davis up a spot as a nightmare matchup 5—a look like they’ve often saved until the postseason. For now, though, “there haven’t been any formalized decisions about the Lakers’ plans for the position,” per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

“That’s the blessing of it, having a lot of different lineups that you can use,” Jordan told Woike. “And I think each game is gonna have a say on what we do. We can be rolling with a huge lineup. And, you know, we’ll win with that. And some games may need us to go small.”

The Lakers have flexibility, which is what every team wants. The real question is whether they can get enough spacing out of lineups featuring Westbrook, a career 30.5 percent three-point shooter, and one of Jordan or Howard, who live around the rim. If the spacing concerns are less severe than expected, then L.A. might discover it has a center option for any situation.