Going into last year's training camp, Anthony Davis was the talk of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The eight-time All-Star had undergone an eye-opening bulking-up following a frustrating, injury-plagued 2020-21 season. He expressed a willingness to play more center. He seemed primed and motivated to regain his bubble form and put the Lakers — including LeBron James — on his back.

“He put a lot of work this off-season into his body,” Frank Vogel said before camp. “We had a lot of conversations about concerns we have with our team … And (AD) comes in for a workout, the first time we’ve seen him for a while, and his body looked imposing. And we all just looked at each other like, ‘We’re going to be really good this year. Just looking at that guy right there, we’re going to be really good this year.'”

Rajon Rondo (and I) picked AD to contend for MVP. I thought he would lead the Lakers in scoring and rebounding and win Defensive Player of the Year.

Instead, AD's rebuilt physique seemingly affected his mobility and jumper, yet didn't help him stay on the court. He suffered a rash of ailments early. Yes, the two major injuries were fluky — Jaden McDaniels fell on his knee, forcing him out six weeks (during rehab, AD asked Jared Dudley how to slim down while hurt). In February, Davis landed awkwardly on his ankle, leading to another six-week absence. He appeared in 40 games after playing 36 the year prior.

Charles Barkley's “street clothes” degradation may be unfair. But categorizing Davis' availability issues as utterly unlucky rather than a result of misguided training/rehab regimens and general fragility — as Davis often does — is overly dismissive of undeniable recurring developments.

When he was on the court, he struggled to regain his 2019-20 form outside of a few performances here and there (the same can be said for 2020-21). He was still an elite hooper and all-world defender, but far from an MVP candidate. 23.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game is stellar production for 99% of NBA players, but it's simply not good enough for Davis.

He was elite around the rim — contributing to his respectable 57.8 true shooting percentage — but he didn't attack as often, despite his bigger frame. His usage was dramatically down, as was his foul-drawing rate (possibly related to his troubling dip in free throw shooting). His jump-shooting woes — 31.7% from 10-16 feet — compounded the concerns, on top of his increasing tendency to settle. He's shot 22% from deep since the bubble. Overall, the last two seasons have been his least-efficient offensive seasons since the mid-2010s, per BBall Index's O-LEBRON metric.

As 2022-23 training camp gets underway, not much has changed. AD, again coming off a season-ending lower-body injury, said at Media Day that he didn't feel the need to adjust his offseason program.

“I did the same exact thing as last season,” he said. “I had two injuries that you can’t really control. Guy fell into my knee, landed on a foot … had a little more time to let my body rest and heal.”

Davis stated his goal is to play all 82 games. (Darvin Ham has repeatedly spoken about the need to overmanage AD's load, so I wouldn't expect that to happen, even with ideal health.)

And, once again, the Lakers have sky-high expectations for their big man.

“He’s coming in with a mindset of leadership, and I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised with what he’s done (with his body),” Rob Pelinka said at Media Day. At Summer League, Pelinka said Davis was amid one of his better offseasons.

At his intro presser, Ham said Davis was the “key” and “centerpiece” to the Lakers' success, and “the foundation of the type of standard we set within a ‘Darvin Ham Era.'”

“His skill set is undeniable,” Ham told the All The Smoke guys. “Like you said, when he's healthy, like he was in 2020 in that bubble run, he's top five in the league. Easy…top three.”

“I just told him, man, don't get caught up in the headlines. Take care of your body bro. This is not going to work without AD. … Having AD available…it's going to be invaluable. He's the centerpiece to that championship table we're trying to build.”

And, once again, I'm predicting AD to have a bounce-back, dominant season — primarily out of necessity and for schematic reasons. I mean…if not now, when?

Davis will be the vital anchor to the Lakers' defense, especially considering the dearth of large two-way players on the roster. On the other end, Ham is implementing the 4-out, 1-in system that has enabled Giannis Antetokounmpo to thrive (whether the Lakers shooters can keep defenders honest is TBD). Davis, who Freudian Slipped in a Giannis reference at Media Day, should be able to approach the Greek Freak's impact: 25+ points, 10+ rebounds, 2+ blocks. His positioning as the “1-in” should encourage more rim attacks and fewer jumpers.

He'll probably start at the 4 — his preference — alongside either a stretch-5 (but non-shot blocker) in Thomas Bryant, or Damian Jones, a rim-rummer/protector. In crunch-time, though, and for large swaths of games, he'll be responsible for holding down the fort at the 5.

That was the plan last year, too, only for AD's injuries to force LeBron to average 37 minutes, 30 points, and often play center. That can't happen again — it wasn't a winning formula, and LeBron is in Year 20.

Ham knows the Lakers' ceiling will be determined by Davis. They know what they'll get from LeBron when he's available. Russell Westbrook carries a hoard of questions, but the Lakers aren't asking him to be a star.

“LeBron’s going to be LeBron,” Ham said in June. “Russ is going to be Russ. But we need consistency out of Anthony Davis. We need him to be healthy, we need him to be in a good mental space and we need him to be as consistent as possible. Back to playing that championship basketball.”

Unless Davis returns to All-NBA form, all the other questions about the roster are relatively moot. Can he play 82 games? That would truly shock the world. But he should be ready to regain his status as a top-10 player. Otherwise, his $40 million salary for 2023-24 (and $43 million player option for 2024-25) will be the subject of summer trade talks.