NBA Notes: Lakers, Anthony Davis, Bucks, Mavs, Christian Wood

Lakers

Power forward Anthony Davis isn’t panicking over the Lakers’ slow start, but also knows that they could use a win soon.

“You don’t want to dig yourself too big of a hole,” Davis said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “But we’ve got to stay even-keeled. We can’t get rattled or flustered and things like that. Just like if we win 12 in a row. We don’t want to get too high.”

Part of the issue, it seems, could be the addition of new faces — as the Lakers have quite a few in key roles.

“We’re continuously learning each other,” Davis said, via McMenamin. “The good thing about it is we’re playing defense, ranked third in the league in defense. In all the statistical categories, we’re top-10. We just got to keep pushing. Keep our head down and move forward with the mindset we’re going into Denver (on Wednesday) to get a win.”

  • In case you missed, the Lakers reportedly intend to start bringing guard Russell Westbrook off the bench, perhaps for the foreseeable future. You can check out that full post here.
  • Lakers GM Rob Pelinka reportedly continues to explore the market for upgrades to the roster, perhaps pitching some multi-team deals. We have more on that right here.

Bucks

The Bucks have the oldest and most experienced roster in the NBA, the league revealed in a press release

Per the NBA, the average Milwaukee player has 7.24 years of experience, easily surpassing the Clippers (6.56) and Celtics (5.82), respectively.

The Bucks’ roster features five players with at least 13 years experience — center Brook Lopez, forward Serge Ibaka, guard/forward Wesley Matthews and point guards Jrue Holiday and George Hill. Small forward Khris Middleton has been in the league for a decade.

Mavericks

Center Christian Wood has been perhaps the Mavs’ second-best player, behind guard Luka Doncic, after arriving in an offseason trade with the Rockets.

But so far, Wood has done his damage off the bench. And it’s role that has taken some adjusting.

“I believe, of course, I’m a starting-caliber player,” Wood said, via Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “But at the same time it’s a new role, a new team. I’m trying to do everything right, do what I’m told, whether it’s playing 12 minutes or 20 minutes, I’m just trying to do my job.”

Plus, Wood suggested, it’s not always who starts, but who finishes.

“They told me I’m the sixth man, but in terms of how many minutes I’m going to play, I really don’t know,” Wood said, via Sefko. “When I get in as the sixth man I try to do everything I can to help Luka because he plays the whole first quarter.”

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