L.A. Notes: Davis, LeBron, Koloko, George, Dunn

One of J.J. Redick’s most significant changes since taking over as head coach of the Lakers has been making Anthony Davis the “hub” of the offense, write Dave McMenamin and Matt Williams of ESPN. Davis is seeing more touches than ever, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in his production. He’s averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds through nine games while shooting 55% from the field, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only Laker to reach those marks.

“He’s done a good job of putting me in spots to be successful,” Davis said of Redick. “My teammates have done a good job of giving me the ball where I’m most comfortable. Obviously they’re encouraging me to try to go get it, but I’m still continuously trying to play the right way.”

Davis’ increased involvement has taken opportunities away from LeBron James, the authors add. Redick is stationing James off the ball more frequently, and his 24.8% usage rate would be the lowest of his career. He’s screening more often and getting the ball off screens as Redick tries to preserve James’ energy as he nears his 40th birthday.

“We’re not going to rely on LeBron James iso fourth-quarter ball,” Redick said. “Like, that’s not who our identity is going to be. So, I think it starts with the thing that was presented to the team on the first day: Here’s our identity offensively; here’s our identity defensively; and then your system should help emphasize those things. And so that’s where we’ve been particularly deliberate.”

There’s more from Los Angeles:

• Christian Koloko will become the Lakers‘ backup center while Jaxson Hayes is sidelined with an ankle injury, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Koloko has only appeared in two games since being medically cleared to return to the NBA, but he’ll have a larger role until Hayes is reevaluated in another week or two. “Disappointed. Feel for Jaxson, especially after the last two games he had for us,” Redick said.
• On his Podcast P show, Paul George clarified comments he made about Clippers fans during a recent visit to Los Angeles (Twitter video link). “I did not call Clippers ‘the B team,’” he stated. “I said it felt like the B team because everywhere you go in L.A., people say, ‘You should be a Laker.’ That wasn’t minimizing. … I was a Clipper. That’s who I chose to play for. I wasn’t comparing them or saying they were underneath the Lakers. It’s just how L.A. interprets that or how L.A. treats players that are in L.A.”
• The Clippers made a change to their starting lineup tonight in Houston, replacing Terance Mann with Kris Dunn, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link). Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game that he plans to continue using the new lineup (Twitter link).