Anthony Davis has long spoken of his wish to play power forward rather than center, something the Golden State Warriors can emphatically grant should they pull off a trade for the 10x All-Star amid their pursuit of LeBron James in free agency.
After the Los Angeles Lakers forced Davis to play the five primarily during his latter years at the franchise, the Washington Wizards are now at least trying to deliver what the 33-year-old is after. The issue is they're only half-delivering on the promise with the duo of Alex Sarr and the recently acquired Deandre Ayton, while the Warriors can provide a much more desirable solution.
Warriors can grant Anthony Davis what Wizards have only half-delivered
The primary issue with Davis wanting to play the four is that his 3-point shooting has fallen off a cliff since he shot 38.3% on nearly three attempts per game in the 2020 NBA Bubble. In the six seasons since, he's shot a paltry 25.8% from 3-point range on less than two attempts.
In other words, if Davis wants to play the four it's imperative there's a floor spacing big man alongside him. As much as the Ayton acquisition last week was seen as a nod to giving Davis more opportunity to play power forward, the reality is that playing the former number one overall picks together isn't really going to be viable for spacing reasons.
Sarr is a far more willing and capable 3-point shooter after averaging 4.3 attempts through the first two years of his career, yet his 31.6% shooting from beyond the arc suggests significant improvements need to be made.
Does Davis want to be playing alongside a young big man who's still trying to forge his own path and develop into a star? Only time will tell, but it wouldn't be surprising if that tandem takes longer to gel than what the fit might look like on paper.
Warriors can provide experience and legitimate floor spacing
With Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford on the roster, Golden State can provide Davis with the sort of experience and genuine floor spacing that that the Sarr/Ayton duo can't. Both Porzingis and Horford have shot over 38% from 3-point range on around five attempts per game over the last four seasons, and are much more Davis' peers as players who've been in the league over a decade (or in Horford's case two).
Of course, this presents injury and health concerns across a long 82-game regular season, but it also provides some upside that Davis would probably prefer to take a risk on rather than sticking with a still relatively young Wizards team.
It's all a moot point unless the two teams can pull off a trade, yet there's a blueprint there not only for Davis to get what he wants at the Warriors, but for the franchise to also benefit as they pursue another deep playoff run.
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