NBA Draft 2012: Anthony Davis Would Take the Washington Wizards to the Playoffs

If the Washington Wizards win the Anthony Davis sweepstakes for the 2012 NBA Draft, they will become a playoff team.

The Wizards have been one of the worst teams in the league the past couple seasons. The John R. Wooden Award Winner and National Freshman of the Year Davis would immediately improve the Wizards in every aspect.

Significantly Improves Defense

Anthony Davis would help out arguably the weakest part of the Wizards team, their defense.

When you add a guy like Davis, he gives you a shut down big man defender. He is also going to be able to intimidate opponents from driving down the lane. Davis has a ridiculous wingspan of 7’4”. When opposing guards drive, don’t think that Davis is not on their mind. He is going to alter so many shots and give the Wizards a presence down low that they have never had.

Davis is also a monster on the boards. As you saw in his postgame interview after the NCAA championship, he takes pride in rebounding and blocking shots. That is the type of player the Wizards need. Someone who is unselfish and, when shots are not falling, they play their best at other aspects in their game.

Takes Pressure off John Wall

If Anthony Davis is a Wizard, he is going to take a load of weight off of John Wall’s shoulders.

Right now, John Wall is the only player on the Wizards that other teams have to worry about. This makes it hard for Wall to be able to play at his best. He is one of the top athletes in the NBA with his speed, explosiveness and size.

However, teams are able to cover him easily because the Wizards have no one else on their team that can take the defensive pressure off him.

Davis would change all of that. He would give the Wizards a scoring presence down low that the Wizards have never had. Teams are not going to be able to converge as quickly on Wall when he drives the lane because they need to worry about Davis.

Teams also need to worry about the Wizards pick-and-roll if they have Davis and Wall. Wall has the speed to blow by his defender and Davis is a high-flying finisher and has shown the ability to hit the mid-range shot. He has a nice shooting form for a big man and shot 63 percent from the field this past season.

Improves Transition Game

What makes Anthony Davis so great is how he can start the transition game. Not only does he block shots, but he is able to usually grab the loose ball and give a quick outlet pass.

Hall of Fame coach recently compared Davis to NBA legend Bill Russell. He described this as a rare ability for a player like Davis to have. Davis isn’t focused on blocking a shot into the stands like former Wizard Javale McGee was. He's also athletic for his size, always hustling, and can run the court.

One thing that you always see with the Wizards transition offense this season is John Wall by himself running ahead of the pack. This forces him into taking some bad shots because he has no one to run with him.

Having Davis would give the Wizards a great transition game. He is athletic enough to run with Wall. The addition of Davis would make the Wizards transition game one of the more legit ones in the league.

Brings Excitement Back to the Verizon Center

Anthony Davis being in a Wizards uniform would electrify Washington DC. When John Wall was drafted, DC went crazy and fans could not stop doing the John Wall Dance. The only thing was that Wall was the only player on the Wizards who was any good. Everybody knew that they were still going to struggle because one rookie cannot turn the worst team in the league.

If the Wizards got Davis, they would have one of the best front courts in the league. Having a power forward and center combination of Davis and Nene would be dangerous. Fans would once again be excited about the Wizards upcoming season and would storm the Verizon Center.

Washington DC has a lot of basketball pride. Back when Gilbert Arenas was Agent Zero for the Wizards and they made the playoffs four years in a row, DC was in love with the Wizards.

Today, everyone sees them as a laughing stock. Having two exciting young players in Wall and Davis would bring back a playoff like atmosphere to the Verizon Center.

Attracts Players Around the League to Come to DC

Adding Anthony Davis would not only make the Wizards better, but they would then have the ability to bring in a ton of talent. The Wizards are going to have a lot of cap room once they get rid of Andray Blatche and Rashard Lewis’s huge contracts. They are going to have the ability to go out and sign a player to a max contract.

Players around the league would love to be playing in a huge media market in our nation’s capital.  Players today have the ability to say where they want to go as you can see with the Dwight Howard situation. All of these players want to play in big time markets so they can make more money. Not only is Washington DC a huge media market, but the players would also be teamed up with two of the NBA’s rising stars in Davis and John Wall.

Having two young studs in Wall and Davis would make the Wizards a legit team again and adding other talent would just make them into a threat in the Eastern Conference.