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3 reasons Raptors should run screaming from Anthony Davis trade

By Mike Luciano

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 18: Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers warms up ahead of their NBA game against the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 18: Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers warms up ahead of their NBA game against the Toronto Raptors (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors
DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 26: Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) /

2. Declining play

The eight-time All-Star is averaging the most rebounds per game he’s ever had as a Laker while shooting 53% from the field and piling up double-doubles constantly. How is that a decline in his play? Well, the lack of efficiency and his vanishing defensive dominance serve as two major ticks against him in this column.

Per Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers scored just 0.4 points per 100 possessions more when Davis was on the floor, good for the 56th percentile in the league. He’s down the 51st percentile this year. With Davis at the center spot, an area he’d likely play in Toronto, the Lakers are allowing 9.3 more points per 100 possessions.

Toronto Raptors: Anthony Davis isn’t what he was

Davis ranks as one of the worst shooters in the league. While this seems like a problem Nick Nurse can fix, do you want to spend $83 million in two years in addition to multiple starters and first-round picks to find out? If the answer is wrong, this franchise will be set back quite a long way.

Even though Pascal Siakam could thrive with Davis when not impacted by a groin injury, the best course of action for this team might be just giving him a supermax deal, should he earn All-NBA, and surrounding him with Ujiri’s patented brand of 6-8 switchable wings.