Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham clarified his previously stated goal for Anthony Davis to shoot six 3-pointers per game this season.
“I've requested to see six 3-point attempts a game,” Ham said last week. “Three per half, at least. I wouldn't put that on him if I didn't think he was capable.”
Since shooting 38.3% from 3 in the bubble, Davis' jumper has fallen off. Frank Vogel said prior to 2020-21 that he wanted Davis to hoist up to five triples, but AD ended up shooting 26.0% on 2.8 per game. He made 18.6% in 2021-22 and 25.7% last season — averaging below 2.0 attempts per game in each campaign.
After Lakers' practice on Tuesday, Ham said he simply wants Davis to look for his shot from anywhere on the floor.
“People have been going crazy with that number. I just think it’s me saying: I want him to be aggressive from all three levels. I don’t want him to think ‘OK, man,’ and second-guess his shot. He catches it and no one’s in front of him or his defender is off of him, I want him shooting the ball from 3. If he happens to be in the corner, he catches it, I want him to shoot the ball from 3. While still being aggressive in the low post and the midrange. So, it’s not like I just want him to become this exclusive stretch big all of a sudden. I just want him to be aggressive from each and every spot on the floor.”
Davis concurred.
“It's based on the style of play, the flow of the game. Some games, I might take one, some I might take none. Some I might take six. I don't want to come in like ‘I need to shoot six' and start thinking about that and start shooting bad shots, right? If I'm open, I'll shoot it. Or if I'm in rhythm, I'll shoot it, but I don't want to be hovering around the 3-point line too much all game.”
So far this preseason, Davis' smooth shooting performance has validated Austin Reaves' pre-camp hype. He's hit 5 of 10 from deep, including at least one make in each of his four appearances.
In general, the most encouraging aspect of the Lakers' preseason has been their output from downtown. The Lakers — a bottom-1o 3-point shooting team for the past three years — have shot 36.2% (weight down by plenty of inefficient second-half non-rotation lineups) and averaged 38.6 attempts, up seven from their rate in 2023-24.