Baron Davis

Overview: An incredibly strong and athletic point guard who can score and distribute very effectively. Plays as strong as he looks. Couples outstanding size with great explosiveness and speed. Changes speeds and directions as well as smaller guards. Handles the ball extremely well. Distributes, but also takes some very questionable shots. A tough matchup for any guard defensively. Has had a complete offensive arsenal since his days at UCLA. Excellent in the open floor and in the half court. Uses his size and speed well on the defensive end. Isn’t always in great shape. Plays with a lot of intensity, competitiveness, and flair. Has had an extremely hard time staying healthy for a full season in recent years. A Two time All-Star.

Offense: An extremely talented offensive player. Gets half of his offense from isolations and pick and rolls. Has the quickness, ball-handling ability, and decision making to take advantage of both situations consistently. Gets another third of his offense in transition and spot ups. Brings an extremely well rounded and balanced offensive skill set to the table. Shows a consistent, quick release with or without his feet set. Solid perimeter shooter, but relies on his 3-point shot a bit too heavily, which hurts his percentages. Always in the 32-35% range from outside. Decent from the midrange. Has all the floaters and scoops that one would expect from a point guard that plays with his savvy. Better when he can put the defense on its heels. Catalyzed Golden State’s offense as its only true point guard. Tremendous ball handler and passer. Will get flashy at times, sometimes to a fault. Will try to go out and make things happen on his own a fair amount, often forcing the issue. Turns the ball over periodically, but when a player handles the ball as much as he has to it isn’t surprising. Great court vision. Creates easy baskets for teammates. Tends to drive left more than right. More efficient and balanced driving that way. Goes to the rim when driving right. Explosive dunker. Hard to stop him once he gets a head of steam. Goes to the line at high rate and shoots a decent percentage once he gets there. Can score in the post a bit, which is a nice weapon to have from a point guard. Aggressively crashes the glass at times. Shows the killer instinct that makes him a threat to carry his team late in games.

Defense: Was the most dynamic perimeter defender on Golden State’s roster, but the amount of minutes he played hurt him on this end. Takes a lot of risks in passing lanes. Makes the most of his efforts. Comes up with a lot of steals. Blocks quite a few shots for a point guard. Truly an effort defender. When he decides to focus, good things happen. Very intense in clutch situations. Tremendous lateral quickness and strength makes him a handful to dribble by or post up. Will commit fouls by being too aggressive. Hard to fault him given the results.