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2017 All-Star Rosters

All-Star voting is underway, which means that it's time for every no-name blog (oh wait, that includes me) to start predicting the rosters for both the East and the West. But before we do that, let's just applaud the NBA for having the balls to move the All-Star from Charlotte. Adam Silver, you're an ace.

These rosters aren't predictions; they're players I believe have performed at an All-Star level for the first half of the season.

East All-Star Starters
G: Kyrie Irving
G: Isaiah Thomas

This starting spot came down to Isaiah Thomas and Kyle Lowry, both of whom are playing at top ten MVP level. But, at his height, Thomas's scoring efficiency (61% true shooting, 26.8 PER, 2.0 VORP), along with his playmaking load, is something we haven't seen since Allen Iverson. Kyle Lowry is a better distributor and defender, but I'm in the camp that DeRozan's contribution to the Raptors is often understated.

F: LeBron James
F: Giannis Antetokuonmpo
F: Jimmy Butler

East All-Star Reserves
G: Kyle Lowry
G: DeMar DeRozan
G: John Wall
G: Kemba Walker

The last guard position on the team, for me, came down to Bradley Beal, Dwyane Wade, and Kemba Walker. My allegiances to the Hornets might be clouding my judgement, but Wade's name recognition isn't quite cutting it. And Beal's nothing but a scorer at this point, and he's not particularly efficient at it.

F: Paul George
F: Kevin Love
F: Kristaps Porzingis
F: Paul Millsap

Sorry, Melo. Porzingis gets the token All-Star nod from me. Paul Millsap beats out Anthony as well, as his Hawks are fourth in the East behind his selfless, defense-first play, despite all the trade rumors flying around.

West All-Star Starters
G: Russell Westbrook
G: James Harden
F: Kawhi Leonard
F: Kevin Durant
F: Marc Gasol

Gasol or Anthony Davis? I'll take the clutch God who's found a three-point stroke on the fifth-best team in the West.

 West All-Star Reserves
G: Stephen Curry
G: Klay Thompson
G: Chris Paul
G: Damian Lillard
F: Draymond Green
F: Anthony Davis
F: DeMarcus Cousins
F: Rudy Gobert

Not too much to explain here, except for Rudy Gobert over Gordon Hayward, Mike Conley, C.J. McCollum, and possibly Karl-Anthony Towns. But it's pretty self-explanatory - the defensive anchor of the fifth best team in the conference. Hayward's had a solid year, scoring and being the prohibitive ball-handler for the Jazz, but the identity of the team is their defense. Why not finally award defense in this league?

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