Skip to main content

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?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The NBA Time Machine

"I do not do cross-era comparisons." - David Jacoby That's how a lot of smart people view the NBA throughout history, as distinct eras, each with their most dominant players and most dominant teams - the 1960s with Russell's Celtics battling the individual greatness of Wilt, the coke-addled 70s with the rise of Kareem, the star power of the 1980s, featuring Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, the Bad Boy Pistons, and Dr. J's Sixers, Jordan in the 90s, the barren wasteland of the early to mid-2000s with Shaq and Kobe, and then LeBron's world. Another way to distinguish these eras are through playing styles: The 1970s were all about gliding as close to the hoop and making smooth finishes near the rim. The 1980s were about pushing the pace and finding an open man in space. Jordan ushered in an era of hero ball with an emphasis on surrounding good post up players with cutting (i.e. MJ in Chicago, Hakeem in Houston, and Ewing in New York), something that c...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Way-Too-Early, Scouting Report on Duke's Jayson Tatum

I've seen exactly one game of Jayson Tatum, but there's nothing like overly premature scouting reports for the NBA Draft: He already has a strong body and a will to rebound, both offensively and defensively. His first defensive position, he had a solid box-out, defensive rebound, and quick lead pass. He still needs to learn where to position for rebounds, often times committing to a box-out directly underneath the basket. He seems a little raw around the rim. He didn't go up strong on a dump off, and his shot got swatted. He also threw up a couple floaters that lacked touch. This is irrelevant, but Frank Jackson looks like Bruno Mars, if he were in that one Fresh Prince episode in the country club. His post game is very refined for his age, especially his footwork, which allows him take advantage of his athleticism. He may be a little too reliant on his speed against bigger defenders in the post, which he'll need to work on for the NBA, where he'll be defende...
Post a Comment
Read more

2016-2017 NBA Quarter-Season Awards Watch

We're a little past the quarter mark on the NBA season, so we have a decent feel of how this year's teams work and who's been able to distinguish themselves from the pack. This is probably a pointless exercise, but when you have finals, fluff pieces like these are imperative. Let's take a look at the front runners for some of the league's most prestigious awards. Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook James Harden Kevin Durant Oh, if the top three finish out like this, the Thunder are going to be regretting their decisions. Westbrook's triple double average, Harden's renewed concentration for the game because of D'Antoni's offensive scheme, and Durant's efficiency have been documented ad nauseam. Imagine, if the Thunder had actually retained all three of these players and realized that Ibaka was nothing more than an above-average role player. The rationale behind the Harden trade was that they couldn't afford all four of Durant, Wes...
Post a Comment
Read more