In the aftermath of his showdown against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, Lakers big man Anthony Davis opened up on the new additions to the roster and how they might make a smooth transition after the trade. For Davis, the key to their success is all about putting in the time and work to incorporate their talents into the system.
“I mean, they got to get it acclimated with our system,” Davis said via Lakers Nation. “Doe Doe had some wide-open looks that he’s going to make. He’s really good defensively for our scheme. Can guard one through five. So there’s a lot more that we can do defensively. Shake [Milton] can score. He made shots tonight and made some plays. Time will help them transition and putting them into our system. But they’re pros. I mean, they’ve been in the league long enough, they can adjust. And we saw a glimpse of that tonight.”
While the Lakers’ first game with their new arrivals was a loss, Davis is optimistic about the future and says that he sees major potential with this group.
“I like where our ball club is,” said Davis. “Obviously, we have some new additions with Doe Doe [Dorian Finney-Smith] and Shake [Milton]. We’re going to be able to get some practice time to get them more acclimated with what we do and try to fit them into our system, but I like the looks that they got tonight. I think we can definitely be better on both ends of the floor, but I’m not disappointed where we are right now.”
The Lakers made their first big trade of the season this week when they acquired Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton from the Nets in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and three second-round picks. Russell was with the Lakers during their run to the Conference Finals in 2023 but inconsistent play and poor defensive effort led to him slowly being phased out of JJ Redick’s rotation.
After trading him to the Nets for the second time, the Lakers are hoping that who they received in return will help them finally challenge the NBA’s Western Conference juggernauts but it’s going to be a slow process.
The game against the Cavaliers on Tuesday was the first time we saw Finney-Smith and Milton in Lakers jerseys and the results were pretty mixed. On one hand, they showed flashes of their potential and offered some resistance on the perimeter.
But with just 8 points scored between the two of them, neither Finney-Smith nor Shake Milton really made an impact in the game and it’s clear now that it will take some time for them to fully adjust to their new surroundings.
As the main attraction and the captain of the ship, everything with the Lakers revolves around Anthony Davis and he’s the one who the Lakers are building their future around. His size and dominance down low are excellent at opening up the floor for his teammates and as the newest members of the Lakers, Finney-Smith and Shake Milton will find out for themselves how easy Davis makes it for them.
The next big test for the Lakers is tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com arena (10:30 PM EST). They also play tomorrow in the second part of a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks. Finally, they play again on January 5th against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center at 7:00 PM EST.
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