With the raft of injuries to big men, Jerry Colangelo, Coach K & co. have added Kentucky's Anthony Davis as a replacement candidate for the Olympic team. Is he ready?
To be Dwight Howard, no. Davis is slight and he also lacks a sophisticated knowledge of NBA basketball, much less international. There's a reasonable chance that he'd get pushed around by a 28-year-old Eastern European under the basket.
That said, he doesn't have to be Howard. He doesn't even really need to bring much of an offensive presence.
He'd likely be very useful with a limited skill set: defending the lane and rebounding.
That's not to suggest that he couldn't help out and the more he can the better.
Typically though it takes a few months for rookie big men to cotton on to the NBA game, and sometimes a good bit longer. As talented as Davis is, it would be asking a lot for him to be ready on both the NBA and international levels by August.
DeMarcus Cousins may be added as well, but we can't imagine anyone wanting to put up with his headaches.
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