Poll: Do You Think Anthony Davis Can Be An Alpha On A Championship Team?

[NKY fan]

The same people that make excuses for Davis for his team not winning enough are the same people that claim that Kyrie is unstoppable offensively. Well Kyrie was very stoppable against the bucks and would have been against the raptors as well.
I don’t think that Davis can lead a team to a title but can do it together with Kyrie and someone else like Paul George. There is also very high chance that Davis won’t make it to June without a hampering unjury like the ones KD or Klay have right now.

[PAOBoston]

What do you define as alpha?

He’d be the best player on the team. His failures is NO was due to th roster around him, not him. The one year they got him some help (Cousins/Mirotic), they had a good playoff ru and he had an amazing post season as well.

[RazzelnoDazzel]

With complete ease.

[gpap]

Yes

[ozgod]

Aren't you really just asking whether we should trade for AD without Kyrie re-signing?

Who is the alpha dog on Toronto? Kawhi?  He is the anti-thesis of an alpha dog. He is a great player, but not an alpha.

Kyle Lowry? Maybe, but in terms of grit and grind, not talent. We can find guys like that.

A line up of Al Horford, healthy Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Anthony Davis and [fill in the box] is a championship contender, with or without a so called alpha dog.

Kawhi is definitely the alpha. He's quiet and unassuming but he dominates the ball and the floor. He takes over games and everyone defers to him to make decisions when it's crunch time.

[Silky]

I would be on board with trading for davis if we have no kyrie, but I believe that keeping Smart would be a must.

So Danny would have to work some magic.

[Ogaju]

do  I think water can wet grass? Yes.

[pearljammer10]

No, he needs Kyrie.

[Moranis]

He was the alpha in New Orleans and didn't work out. But that's because Demps failed to surround him with talent and it was too late.

He can be the alpha here but he needs an all-star caliber #2 guy/ballhandler, and a #3 guy.

I don't think the issue in New Orleans was a lack of talent at the top of the roster.  Jrue Holiday is a really solid #2/3.  Cousins was very talented before his achilles injury.  Randle is pretty good.


The issue is that the Pelicans never had enough guys to fill out a 8-9 man rotation with NBA-caliber role players.  The complete lack of a supporting cast made it really, really difficult for them to be consistent enough to stay in the playoff running.

Well besides the fact they invested over $40 million in two back up centers in Alexis, Asik, and Solomon Hill might have led to that premise...

The only thing they desperately needed was more consistent shooters, defenders, and an actual wing that didn't suck.

Yeah I mean the simplest way I can put it is that I think Davis + Holiday + 3 average starters & 3-4 average bench guys would be enough for 50-55 wins unless they got slammed by injuries.

I don't. I don't think Jrue is even a top 40 player in the game.

I think the Pels won about as much as they could in an extremely tough Western Conference with the players that franchise surrounded Davis with.

You really mean that? That's a really weird position to take.

To me Holiday belongs in that secondary-option-group. For (shooting) guards: Beal, Holiday, DeRozan, Booker, Thompson, McCollum, Hield

And given his defense and playmaking skills, Holiday would be at the top end of that group. I'd only take Beal before him (and Booker if we're talking about multiple seasons).

Didn't say he wasn't a good SG. I said he wasn't a top 40 player.

I might be off on top 40 but not by much.

SI and ESPN ranked Jrue 29th and 26th respectively.  Players voted him #1 underrated. 
He's a rare guard that contributes very positively on offense and defense.  He's versatile as far as playing on or off ball.  He averaged 21.2 pts (25th overall) and 7.7 asts (6th overall) and 1.63 steals (10th).  He's a top 40 player even if you ignore his defense.   

I'd rather have McCollum than Holiday who was behind him in both lists.  Kemba Walker, better than Holiday, yet behind him on the lists.  Conley, behind him.  DeRozan, behind him.  Griffin, behind him. I can go on.  Holiday is a fine player, but he isn't as good as ESPN and SI had him. 

[Erik]

I was in the boat before that trading for AD if Kyrie left is extremely risky, but I am slowly moving to the realization that a team like Rubio, Brown, Hayward, Horford, Davis is a serious contender. A floor general like Rubio might even make more sense than Kyrie if that makes sense. Even if AD leaves and we traded Tatum and Smart away, at least it will be a fun year. The alternative of growing and developing the youngsters doesn’t seem like it will get there either. In the NBA you have to make big moves to win, or get extremely lucky in the draft and get multiple top 20 players. I don’t see it as a given that any of our young guys ever get there. I think if you get AD for Tatum, you pull the trigger regardless what nonsense Kyrie wants to get involved in (can’t even believe that he wants to go to the Nets of all teams). Guy is seriously going to leave a title contender to join Joe Harris and Dinwiddie...  My hope is that at some point he’ll wake up.

[gpap]

I was in the boat before that trading for AD if Kyrie left is extremely risky, but I am slowly moving to the realization that a team like Rubio, Brown, Hayward, Horford, Davis is a serious contender. A floor general like Rubio might even make more sense than Kyrie if that makes sense. Even if AD leaves and we traded Tatum and Smart away, at least it will be a fun year. The alternative of growing and developing the youngsters doesn’t seem like it will get there either. In the NBA you have to make big moves to win, or get extremely lucky in the draft and get multiple top 20 players. I don’t see it as a given that any of our young guys ever get there. I think if you get AD for Tatum, you pull the trigger regardless what nonsense Kyrie wants to get involved in (can’t even believe that he wants to go to the Nets of all teams). Guy is seriously going to leave a title contender to join Joe Harris and Dinwiddie...  My hope is that at some point he’ll wake up.

I'd be happy if Irving came back but I've resigned myself to the fact that he's gone.

So, onto plan B and yes, that very much includes getting Davis. My wishful thinking is we can get D'Angelo Russell if Kyrie goes to Brooklyn. Russell would be ticked off with losing his point guard spot and ironically becomes the point guard in Boston.

[gpap]

With complete ease.

Especially where Davis is also a center. Much better to build your team around a center than a guard. Not to say your point guard couldn't be your best player, but come playoff time, you need a talented big man.

[action781]

I think only a few NBA players can be the #1 on a championship team under fairly normal circumstances and they are:

-Lebron
-Durant
-Kawhi
-Curry
-Ant Davis

The closest to them I think is James Harden who could have a chance if he has a great team constructed around him all clicking and/or gets some lucky breaks along the way.  Think like 2010 Dirk Nowitzki.

After that there's Paul George, Dame Lillard, and Joel Embiid who could possibly be the best player on a championship team if the team is quite loaded with talent (3+ all-stars and strong surrounding cast) and well coached.  Think like the '08 Celtics or '04 Pistons.

As for the rest of the NBA players, I think they would need to play alongside one of the aforementioned players to win a title aside.  As of right now that is.  Giannis, Jokic, and others are close to eventually cracking into the players who could be a #1 and could as soon as this upcoming season.

What evidence is there that AD belongs in that top group?

Well I probably don't have enough evidence to uphold my argument in a court of law.  It's mostly just an opinion.  But my opinion is based strongly around in just 7 seasons in the league, he's already been first team all-NBA 3 times.  He has shown an ability to single-handedly dominate playoff games not just on occasion, but regularly.  While he's very strong on offense, he's just as strong on defense (which separates him from Harden).

[LilRip]

I was in the boat before that trading for AD if Kyrie left is extremely risky, but I am slowly moving to the realization that a team like Rubio, Brown, Hayward, Horford, Davis is a serious contender. A floor general like Rubio might even make more sense than Kyrie if that makes sense. Even if AD leaves and we traded Tatum and Smart away, at least it will be a fun year. The alternative of growing and developing the youngsters doesn’t seem like it will get there either. In the NBA you have to make big moves to win, or get extremely lucky in the draft and get multiple top 20 players. I don’t see it as a given that any of our young guys ever get there. I think if you get AD for Tatum, you pull the trigger regardless what nonsense Kyrie wants to get involved in (can’t even believe that he wants to go to the Nets of all teams). Guy is seriously going to leave a title contender to join Joe Harris and Dinwiddie...  My hope is that at some point he’ll wake up.

I'd be happy if Irving came back but I've resigned myself to the fact that he's gone.

So, onto plan B and yes, that very much includes getting Davis. My wishful thinking is we can get D'Angelo Russell if Kyrie goes to Brooklyn. Russell would be ticked off with losing his point guard spot and ironically becomes the point guard in Boston.

Why all the love for D’Angelo Russell? I’ve seen his name pop up on this board quite often. Listen, if you guys hate Kyrie’s game, you’re going to absolutely hate Russell’s even more.

[gouki88]

I was in the boat before that trading for AD if Kyrie left is extremely risky, but I am slowly moving to the realization that a team like Rubio, Brown, Hayward, Horford, Davis is a serious contender. A floor general like Rubio might even make more sense than Kyrie if that makes sense. Even if AD leaves and we traded Tatum and Smart away, at least it will be a fun year. The alternative of growing and developing the youngsters doesn’t seem like it will get there either. In the NBA you have to make big moves to win, or get extremely lucky in the draft and get multiple top 20 players. I don’t see it as a given that any of our young guys ever get there. I think if you get AD for Tatum, you pull the trigger regardless what nonsense Kyrie wants to get involved in (can’t even believe that he wants to go to the Nets of all teams). Guy is seriously going to leave a title contender to join Joe Harris and Dinwiddie...  My hope is that at some point he’ll wake up.

I'd be happy if Irving came back but I've resigned myself to the fact that he's gone.

So, onto plan B and yes, that very much includes getting Davis. My wishful thinking is we can get D'Angelo Russell if Kyrie goes to Brooklyn. Russell would be ticked off with losing his point guard spot and ironically becomes the point guard in Boston.

Why all the love for D’Angelo Russell? I’ve seen his name pop up on this board quite often. Listen, if you guys hate Kyrie’s game, you’re going to absolutely hate Russell’s even more.

Not to mention he absolutely disappeared against Philly