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New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis is a stud. At just 25 years old, he is averaging 28 and 13 and is a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the floor, possessing a great offensive skillset and incredible defensive versatility.
So, as you can imagine, the second he asked the Pelicans for a trade earlier this month, ears perked up all around the NBA, and teams have already begun aggressive jostling for his services.
However, in the midst of the trade rumors, many have questioned just how great Davis is.
After all, if he were really that great, wouldn't he have led the Pelicans to more than just two playoff appearances during what is going to end up a seven-year tenure with the team at the end of this season?
New Orleans has won just one playoff series during Davis' tenure, sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round last year. That was the highlight of Davis' run with the franchise.
The Pelicans have never won 50 games with Davis, and as a matter of fact, they have only won 40 games twice.
So, why wasn't Davis able to win more in the Big Easy?
Well, let's start with the fact that Dell Demps—who was fired by owner Gayle Benson on Friday—did a rather awful job of surrounding Davis with appropriate talent, failing to ever supply the Pelicans with legitimate depth and doing ridiculous things like signing Solomon Hill to a four-year, $48 million contract.
Sure, Davis has had guys like Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo for stints throughout his tenure, not to mention DeMarcus Cousins, who New Orleans acquired midway through the 2016-17 campaign. However, Cousins tore his ACL in January of last year, effectively ending his tenure with the club.
But overall, Davis has not exactly had the greatest teammates and has had to do far too much by himself.
Let's face it: put Davis alongside of LeBron James in Los Angeles or Kyrie Irving in Boston, and watch how much better those teams would instantly become.
Davis is an unequivocal superstar and is quite arguably the best power forward we have seen since the prime days of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. No disrespect to Dirk Nowitzki, but Davis is a genuine two-way player, something Nowitzki never was.
The counterargument, ironically, is Garnett himself.
Garnett had awful supporting casts during his 12-year run with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and yet, he was still dragging the team to 50-win seasons and playoff appearances year in and year out. He went to the Western Conference Finals once, losing to the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers in 2004.
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So, you may be wondering, why was Garnett able to do carry those teams to playoff berths while Davis can barely even get 40 wins?
Here's the thing, though: that's not a fair comparison, because, as great as Davis is, he is not Garnett, who may very well be the greatest defensive player to ever play the game in addition to being a phenomenal all-around offensive threat.
Plus, it wasn't until KG's fifth year in the league that he finally led the Timberwolves to 50 wins, and in his first playoff appearance in 1997, Minnesota went just 40-42 in what was a much weaker Western Conference.
We have a habit of always comparing players to one another without accounting for all of the variables involved, and it's something that needs to stop. It is absolutely absurd to deny that Davis, who is in the process of averaging at least 28 points, 11 boards, and nearly three blocks per game for the third year in a row, is a great player who just happens to be stuck in a miserable situation.
Do you really think Davis would be wallowing if he were a member of a better franchise? For example, let's say Davis was a member of the Celtics all these years (and funny thing is, he may very well end up in Boston this summer). You don't think that Danny Ainge would have made sure he went out and put the right pieces around Davis for him to succeed?
We are talking about a guy who is nearly seven feet tall and can do just about anything other than knock down three-pointers at a consistent rate, and it's not like Davis is a bad shooter.
Now, if you are going to be concerned about something with Davis, it should be his penchant for getting hurt, as he strained his shoulder on Thursday night and left his team's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That was just the latest health issue in what has been a career full of them for Davis, who has played 70 games just twice in his seven-year NBA tenure.
Of course, Davis is yet to truly suffer any severe injuries, as he has basically been dealing with nicks and bruises, but if you were going to question him going forward for something, that would be it.
You wouldn't look at his stats and see that he is a double-double machine shooting over 50 percent from the floor and getting to the free-throw line nearly 10 times a game and say, “Yeah; I don't know about this Anthony Davis guy.”
That is silly.
Davis is surely going to get traded to a better organization this summer, and just watch how he blossoms afterward.
