The All-Star line ups have been completed today and as always we have ourselves a little controversy.
East All-Star Reserves:
Jimmy Butler, Darius Garland, James Harden, Zach LaVine, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum and Fred VanVleet.
West All-Star Reserves:
Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Draymond Green and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Before there’s any controversy, it’s great to see some first time All-Stars get rewarded for their stellar seasons thus far.
Darius Garland has been nothing short of phenomenal for a young Cavs team who has taken everyone by surprise this season.
Garland comes into his home All-Star weekend averaging 19.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 8.2 APG.
He’s taken on the lead role in a young team missing Collin Sexton and one in which no one saw coming, has the Cavs in 5th position ahead of the slumping Brooklyn Nets!!
Another great story is the addition of Fred VanVleet.
VanVleet came into the league undrafted out of Wichita State, and has proven every team wrong who passed up on him!
VanVleet won an NBA Championship with the Raptors alongside the likes of now departed Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard, and truly deserves this call up, having the Raptors in Play-In position heading into the All-Star break.
One change one would have to make to the East Reserves is the addition of Miles Bridges.
Bridges still stands a chance to make his way into this team in place of the injured Kevin Durant, but let’s play this as if all players are healthy.
There’s nothing worse than those who want to say “this person was snubbed”.
That’s fine, but who are you replacing them with??
Bridges should have taken the place of Khris Middleton this year.
Bridges has been great this season for the Hornets, averaging 19.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 3.4 APG (whilst also playing in 50 of 52 games this season).
The same argument can be made for his team mate LaMelo Ball,
LaMelo has also upped his numbers this season, going for 19.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 7.7 APG (playing in 45 of 52 games and has the Hornets in 7th position).
Middleton on the other hand has played in 41 games of 53 this season, averaging 19.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 5.2 APG (all numbers dropping on his season averages last season).
Yes it’s good to see them rewarding winning basketball, but in this case, the Bucks have been slow starters this season (currently 4th in the East at 32-21) whilst the Hornets sit in 7th at 28-24, exceeding expectations to start the season.
The West All-Star reserves are fairly stacked, with the likes of Booker, Paul and Doncic all capable of being named starters in any other year!
There’s no doubt Booker should have already been named a starter this year over Andrew Wiggins, but it’s good to see him make the original team of reserves this season (not relying on social media outrage/injury replacements) to have his name in the mix!
In terms of picking a bench for these West All-Stars, they’ve got this one right.
Unfortunately Draymond Green is due to miss this contest, so we’ve got a spot open for someone ready to step up in his place.
Names that have come up as “Snubs” this year out West, have been the likes of Dejounte Murray and Anthony Davis.
Davis should never be considered in a season like this, after only playing in 31 games this season and having the record that the Lakers do!
Murray sits in the same boat in terms of the Spurs record (who are performing about as well as we thought they would) sitting in 13th position (19-34), but has been brilliant this season.
Murray comes in averaging 19.6 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 9.1 APG, whilst playing in 46 of 53 games this season.
His name is in the mix, but it’s time to reward winning basketball in his place, and there’s 2 names that come to mind to take the place of Draymond.
Mikal Bridges stats won’t jump out at you, but neither do Draymond’s.
Bridges is averaging 12.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 2.1 APG, and is elite on the defensive end, as is Draymond.
Bridges has also played in 50 games this season for the league leading Phoenix Suns, and is a huge reason in this team’s success as the perfect 3 and D player they need.
Jaren Jackson Jr is the other name that comes to mind to replace Draymond.
Jackson has averaged 16.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.1 APG.
His durability this season has been key in this team’s success, playing in all but one of their games and alongside Ja Morant, have this team at 36-18 (3rd in the West).
Outside of the big game, the Rising Stars field was also set, and our very own Josh Giddey will be one to watch!
Giddey, who’s won multiple Rookie of the Month honours, comes into the All-Star break averaging 11.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 6.2 APG.
Josh looks like he’s been in the league for years, and as soon as that 3 point jump shot comes along, we have ourselves a genuine superstar in the making!
The revamped format of the Rising Stars game itself is a strange one (4 teams of 7 players), with 4 G-League Ignite players also in the mix.
Dyson Daniels will also look to impress on the big stage, and an “All Aussie” line up of himself, Giddey, LaMelo (Former Illawarra Hawk) and Jae'Sean Tate (Former Sydney King) will have some Aus Hoops fans getting very exciting!
All-Star weekend takes place in Cleveland Feb 19-21.
Who do you think was the biggest snub of the All-Star Game?
Bauky