Why Anthony Davis will win the 2018–2019 MVP
Anthony Davis has already proven a long time ago he’s a superstar and recently has solidified himself in the top 3 players in the league conversation. This past season really benefited towards that statement as he was finally able to not just win a playoff game but a playoff series against the 3 seeded Trail Blazers. Doing all of this without his all star teammate in Demarcus Cousins, who tore his Achilles earlier in the season. The amazing part about that is that the team really got better once he left, especially Anthony Davis. The superstar power forward averaged 30.4 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.1 BLOCKS per game. They also went 20–11 during that stretch which propelled them into the playoff and now with Cousins gone the Pelicans will get a full season of that kind of production. Granted they did lose one of their keys players in Rondo, who did play a major role in Davis’s production. However, they did find a replacement in Elfrid Payton who averaged nearly 12 points and 6 assist with his stint with the Suns last year. He isn’t the perfect fit for Davis but seeing Payton last year, he has showed signs of possibly being more than he has shown earlier in his career. Payton hasn’t reach his full potential yet but I don’t think people realize he’s only 24 years old and still has room to grow. I think he could really strive for his hometown team and be a factor for a good team for once. The Pelicans real prize this summer was the signing of Julius Randle, who I believe is one of the most underrated players in the league. The man can really play, he passes the eye test with flying colors and his stats are also great. The former Laker averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds on 56% shooting while only playing 27 minutes with the team. If he starts with this team(which he should) he’ll 100% be a difference maker. I know its difficult to replace a 4x all-star but Randle is a pretty good choice. I say this because Randle isn’t that much of a ball hog compared to Cousins. He’s a hustle player and he goes for rebounds and plays his heart out it seems every play. That won’t just help the team’s record but also Anthony Davis. Randle isn’t that much of scorer so that’ll give Davis more scoring opportunities. Davis has shown the ability to drop 40 or more easily if he had to. Also, with Randle being a great offensive rebounder it’ll give this team a lot more opportunities to score. Also with other solid players like Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic this team shouldn’t have that much of a problem with making the playoffs. Add that with Davis most likely crazy offensive and defensive stats, this should be Anthony Davis MVP to lose. However, a lot of people have shouted how Lebron is going to dominate in L.A with new and better teammates. Yes his teammates are better players but they aren’t better for Lebron. Meaning that his new teammates are better than the one at Cleveland but they are missing one thing Lebron realizes heavily from his teammates, shooting. I know I’m not the first one to call them out on this but this is actually starting to become a problem. Lebron relys heavily on the pass out to the open man in the corner for the 3 but with this new team he kinda loses that. Also this Lakers is very young compared to the one he had in Cleveland. So they will have growing pains even with one of the greatest players ever and it’ll take a minute for them to adjust to a Lebron offense. I feel it’s going to affect their record and Lebrons stat a little bit. Now dont get me wrong Lebron is still going to have a great season but he’s not getting any younger and it’s his 1st season with the team, it doesn’t seem as favorable as it originally did. Now with Davis he’s been in New Orleans, he’s adjusted to their playing style and his teammates. Even though I made a big deal about his new teammates he still has key players from last year that wont effect his playing ability for the worse. The only thing holding back Davis from being a clear front runner is the teams overall success. I do believe they make the playoffs but the NBA is unpredictable so you never really know. The Pelicans haven’t been an establish team when talking about the postseason but this roster does have the talent. If the Pelicans are able to pull it together while Anthony Davis has a season like last year, nothing will stop him from being a 1st time MVP.
