There are always more deserving All-Star candidates than vacancies for them, but that has never been more true than this season. The NBA announced reservations on Tuesday, and there is a good chance that you will be outraged by “contempt” or the other.
If you lost, the coaches voted Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Paul George, Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Zion Williamson as Western Conference reserves. In the East, coaches voted for James Harden, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Julius Randle, Nikola Vucevic, Zach LaVine and Ben Simmons.
On March 4, Kevin Durant and LeBron James will select their teams. On March 7, the game will be played and, unless they are selected as an injury substitute, the following players will not be on the court:
Most coaches would not choose two Suns, and it appears that Booker was a victim of Paul’s success. His assistance rate has understandably dropped now that Paul is around, but he increased his usage rate to 30.3% and continued his extremely efficient score. This may be a difficult pill for Booker to swallow, but hey, as long as his team remains healthy, he will have his first playoff test in a few months. This is the flip side of that.
Update: Booker was named injury replacement for Lakers striker Anthony Davis on the Western Conference roster on Wednesday, February 24.
It is genuinely surprising that the coaches did not choose him, since he is universally respected and his team has the best record in the league. Conley, a 14-year-old veterinarian who has barely missed the cut a few times in Memphis, is the sentimental choice to take Davis’s place. He also has a solid statistical case: for 36 minutes, he averages 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 59.4 percent of true shots. Conley is launching 3s at a higher volume and more accurately than ever and playing better on defense than some of the selected players on him. Jazz surpassed opponents by 17.1 points per 100 possessions with him on the court, which is the highest mark in the entire league.
Middleton made the cut in 2019 and 2020, but lost this time because his team was not so dominant (and the East has a zillion worthy candidates). Individually, though, he’s been doing significantly better this season, so it looks a little strange. Milwaukee trained Middleton as an ace, and he averaged 6.2 assists for 36 minutes, the record of his career. His 0.50 / 431 / 0.895 shots are insane.
Another player who stepped forward after an All-Star season, Adebayo added the medium-range jumper to his arsenal, increased his use and continued to grow until he became one of the NBA’s big names. Every 36 minutes, he averages 19.6 points, plus 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocks in 63.6 percent of true shots. It is not his fault that the Heat is 14-17, but the disappointing record is probably what cost him a second appearance.
From an unfinished bench heater to a crucial part of the league’s best bench unit, from NBA finals hero to full-time holder for it is, the evolution continued. VanVleet will have to wait to validate his last jump with an All-Star appearance, but he is clearly playing on an All-Star level. He was a bright spot when the Raptors were fighting, and he has been driving a lot of their success as they changed things, especially with their 54-point game against Orlando and their recent wins against Sixers and Bucks without Kyle Lowry. In February, he averaged 21.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals for 36 minutes in 59.8 percent of true shots, but the last push was not enough.
Ceasing to be part of a three-headed PG monster, Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as Thunder’s # 1 option. This was a predictable story, but the same cannot be said about the scope of its development. Generally, when a young player’s usage rate makes a significant leap, just maintaining their efficiency is considered a success. This 22 year old did much more than that. He averages 24.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 62 percent (!) Of real shots. The coaches probably held OKC’s 12-19 record against him.
Fox has been one of the best clutch players in the league, and if that vote had taken place before the Kings’ seven-game losing streak, I bet he would have made it. In the season, he averages 24.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.4 steals every 36 minutes, but these numbers show how much he has improved as a pick-and-roll operator . Fox is doing 3s of pull-up and 3s of indentation, and his 41.9 percent mark in 3s of catch and shoot suggests that he will be able to take these photos at a reliable pace in the relatively near future. He is also making 72 percent of his shots on the edge, which shouldn’t be possible.
Looking strictly at the numbers, it is difficult to rationalize keeping Young out of the team. The guy has an average of 27.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 9.9 assists for 36 minutes on 60.8 percent of true shots, and opponents cannot keep him out of the free throw line. The Hawks had an uneven season, however, and Young did not significantly improve his defense or his off-ball game.
Sabonis and the Pacers started the season strong, but their case lost momentum when the team did. Like Middleton and Adebayo, though, he is unquestionably better now than when he did the All-Star Game last season. He averages 21.3 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists for 36 minutes in 59.5 percent of real shots, with a career use rate of 25.4. Everything Indiana does revolves around him.
Hayward’s 36 numbers (22.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.2 steals) are almost identical to what they were in his final season in Utah. Its 60% true shot percentage is a few percentage points higher. Hayward has been everything the Hornets expected him to be, providing precisely the right amount of goals and frames to ease the pressure on the guards without getting in the way. Unfortunately for him, these numbers don’t jump off the page in the same way as, say, LaVine’s.
Coaches must reward the best players or the players who are having the best seasons? If you lean towards the first or believe it should be a mixture of the two, you probably think Butler was stolen. He proved that he was among the best in the league in the bubble, and his stats in 19 games – 20.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals for 36 minutes in a 55 percent real shot. – are not very different from your previous season statistics. Butler started out slow, however, and his 12 games lost probably worked against him. Miami’s record probably too.
DeRozan’s drive-and-kick game has been an essential part of the Spurs’ new attack, and he averages 7.4 assists every 36 minutes. He is still an unbelievable mid-range shooter, but he cut the frequency of his long 2s and reached his career record in 57% of them, for Cleaning The Glass. He is no longer completely avoiding the 3-point line. San Antonio wasn’t a big enough story for DeRozan to generate a lot of All-Star buzz, and his drop in points per game (19.8) is probably a factor, too. When you consider how it has been discussed throughout your career, this is a rich irony.
For the second time, Harris is having a career year under Doc Rivers, averaging 21.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks for 36 minutes in 60, 7 percent of true pitches. A personification of the Sixers’ vastly improved offensive ecosystem, Harris’s pitch profile doesn’t look much different, but he is much more comfortable as a top scorer than last season. However, as Conley found out, it’s hard to get in when you’re a teammate with two perennial All-Stars.
Honorable mentions: Jerami Grant, Brandon Ingram, Christian Wood, Ja Morant, CJ McCollum