Mini Scouting Report on B. Davis from watching him on Clipps

[Johnny Hoops]

Congrats guys - Nice pickup. Low risk, high reward.

Here is my mini scouting report from watching him in LA:

First of all, no Clippers fan actually wanted him to be traded when he was, but they understood that management had to get his exorbitant salary off the books.

He doesn't have the greatest outside shot, but it's not bad at all, and he can definitely hit big shots (I believe he had several game winners against the Celtics, when they were Juggernauts). You guys are going to have your own "Lob City" with him as your Point Guard. He's masterful in directing passes for alley-oops - He will connect effectively with Tyson, Melo and Stat. I always enjoyed seeing he and his ability to penetrate defense - He should do this for you guys very well, and expect to see easy shots/layups/dunks created from his penetration. He's also a great leader, and a nice veteran; Very positive guy in the locker-room; very outgoing/"Hollywood" - New York is perfect for his personality.

I think you make some valid points but I will add that D'Antoni's system creates space for point guards and the high ball screen action with elite players like Amare, Melo and even Chandler will also help free Baron.

Mike D's system made Duhon look like an all-star for 1/2 season --- Baron even at current age/condition is better athlete than Duhon.

Obviously, injuries would be the only issue; make sure you have solid backup PG's.

I've watched him nearly his entire tenure with the Clippers, so if you have any questions, be sure to ask.

Look, I appreciate that you're trying to give a scouting report but please don't sugarcoat it. If you're gonna appraise a player you're familiar with, give the good and the bad. The only weakness is his injury concerns? Then why aren't we talking about prime B-Diddy here? I'll give you that the only weakness the Davis from New Orleans had was injury concerns, but now? Come on.

I've watched the majority of games he's played on the Clips as well, and I saw quite a different player than what you described in the bold. His shot was not what you would call "not the greatest, but not bad". Did he hit a few clutch shots? Yes, because he took most of them. But his shot was just embarrassingly bad for NBA standards most of the time. The thing with guys like Davis is that they're not pure shooters. They don't have good shooting mechanics and relied on their lift to shoot early in their careers. Now that his lift is gone, his shot is just flat and awful. Yes he can go on streaks and get hot (see: Youtube clips) but for pro standards, his shot was embarrassingly bad.

Ability to penetrate with ease? Along with his shot, the biggest change from his GSW days was his loss of athleticism. Along with that went his ability to finish at the hoop. Did he get to the basket at times? Yes, but his ability to finish is night and day compared to early on in his career, when he was an elite finisher at the hoop. He's also not quick enough anymore to consistently get around a lot of the younger guys these days. We might get the occasional drive to the hoop, but if you're counting on him doing that as a major part of your game plan, then I would start making other plans.

Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope he'll have a revival here. But more than likely, expect him to dump the ball off to Melo or Amare and get his points off of 3's kicked out to him when they get doubled. All I hope is that he'll hit them at a respectable rate, that'll be good enough for me. More importantly, his ball-handling is better than Toney's, which will (hopefully) allow Toney to slide over to the backup SG spot, which is where he belongs.