With Anthony Davis incoming to Dallas after a Saturday night stunner, could the Mavericks have found a stronger path forward?
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Anthony Davis was not the biggest name in the trade that sent him to the Dallas Mavericks. But Davis has been one of the best bigs in the league throughout his 13 seasons with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Here are some numbers to know about the 31-year-old big man …
All stats are through Feb. 4, 2025.
1. Big career numbers
1. Davis is one of only two players in NBA history – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the other — to have played at least 500 games and averaged at least 24 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game throughout his career. (Blocks have only been counted since 1973-74.)
2. He has six (qualified) seasons averaging at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Victor Wembanyama is the only other active player with one.
3. Davis is one of two players — LeBron James is the other — that rank in the top 10 among active players in points (10th), rebounds (10th) and blocks (second).
4. Davis has averaged 26.1 points per game in the playoffs. That ranks 13th among 65 players who’ve played in at least 50 playoff games. He and Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon are the only players to have played in at least 10 playoff games with career playoff averages of at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
2. More available, and doing more work on his own
5. Over the last two seasons, Davis has played in 91% of his team’s games (including the SoFi Play-In Tournament and playoffs), up from 60% over the previous three years.
6. Davis’ usage rate of 29.8% ranks 14th in the league and is his highest rate in the last eight seasons.
7. He’s drawn fouls on 18.1% of his drives, the highest rate among 125 players with at least 100 drives. He’s recorded assists on just 1.9% of his drives, the lowest rate in that same group.
8. Davis has been assisted on 62.3% of his field goals, the second-lowest rate of his career. According to Second Spectrum, he’s averaged 6.4 isolations per 100 possessions, his highest rate in 12 seasons of tracking data. The Lakers scored 1.03 points per possession when a Davis iso led directly to a shot, turnover or trip to the line, with that also being his highest rate in those 12 seasons.
9. His 5.4 post-ups per 100 possessions are his fewest in the last 10 seasons, according to Second Spectrum. The Lakers scored 0.96 points per possession when a Davis post-up led directly to a shot, turnover or trip to the line, a rate which ranks just 17th among 21 players with at least 75 direct post-ups this season.
3. Better inside than outside
10. Davis has shot 60% in the paint and has an effective field goal percentage of 43.2% on shots from outside the paint. That’s the 11th biggest differential among 179 players with at least 100 field goal attempts both in and outside the paint.
11. That 60% in the paint is his lowest mark in the last eight seasons, while his 42.2% from mid-range is his best mark in that same stretch.
12. Over his career, Davis has shot 62% in the paint, a mark which ranks 21st among 450 players with at least 2,000 attempts in the paint over the 29 seasons of shot-location data. His 29.7% from 3-point range is the ninth worst mark among 559 players with at least 1,000 career 3-point attempts.
4. All-time defender
13. Davis has averaged 3.63 steals plus blocks per game over his career, fifth most among players that have played at least 200 games in the 52 years for which steals and blocks have been counted.
14. He’s one of four players — Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Matisse Thybulle are the others — with at least 100 career blocks on 3-pointers over the 29 seasons for which we have play-by-play data.
15. Davis has a ratio of 1.76 steals plus blocks per personal foul ((STL + BLK)/PF) this season. That ranks second among 297 players (trailing only Wembanyama) who’ve played at least 500 minutes. He’s one of three players who’ve played at least 500 minutes (and this would be his fifth season) with more blocks (90) than fouls (82).
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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