The All-Star Game apparently nobody wants to play had its official lineup on Tuesday night. The NBA announced the seven reservations at each conference that will join the 10 holders in Atlanta on March 7. In the West, Chris Paul, Paul George, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis were named All-Stars. (Davis will likely be replaced due to injury.) Joining them in the East will be James Harden, Julius Randle, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Ben Simmons and Nikola Vucevic. Here are some ideas on the final selections …
Who was snubbed?
The first thing people want to talk about when lists are named is who was left out of the list. LeBron James fired the first volley, tweeting your support for Devin Booker. I don’t know if there is any blatant contempt. Someone will always be off the list. In the West, De’Aaron Fox and Mike Conley (besides Booker) had good cases … but who would they be replacing? The conference remains full, despite the recent exodus of talent. Davis’ Achilles injury will make room for at least one more person. A choice by Conley would give Jazz three All-Stars, a nice reward for his surprising first place in the first half of the season.
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In the East, people are likely to be at war with the inclusion of Nikola Vucevic. It is important to note that coaches vote for reserves. Vooch may not receive national attention, but he has been an incredibly productive player for several seasons now on a Magic team that is always a little more excited than is believed. His teammate Aaron Gordon may have stolen more headlines from the All-Star Weekend in his career, but Vucevic is the best player. Having said all that, it is a bit surprising to see Bam Adebayo not being on the team. Maybe Adebayo is paying the price for the Heat’s up and down season, but he would have been a worthy choice in this place. (His teammate Jimmy Butler has lost a lot of games.) Another player with a strong case for inclusion is Bucks swingman Khris Middleton, who basically averages 6/6/6 per night and is only a few free throws away a season 50/40/90. But, particularly with the East being so grouped this season, mostly taking the qualifier from “team success”, these choices most often stand the test of time.
Julius Randle! And Zach LaVine!
Two players who have disturbed the cart this season are Randle and LaVine, who have garnered huge numbers for two franchises (Knicks and Bulls) who have not had a record in recent seasons. Both are more than deserved choices, after entering this season without fanfare. The Knicks and Bulls would be in the playoffs if they started today, and Randle and LaVine are the biggest reasons. At the very least, it is a drag that your first All-Star games will come in a compromised product. The two players are having seasons that deserve all the normal bells and whistles that come with the All-Star Weekend. Hopefully, they have more selections in the future.
Jaylen Brown of the Celtics will also go to Atlanta for his first All-Star appearance. Although Boston is in the midst of a fall that almost all Eastern times will experience this season, it is also presenting a spectacular season. This seems to be the first of many times that Brown and Tatum will go to the All-Star Weekend as a couple.
In addition to the previous three, the Pelicans’ Williamson will likely make the first of many appearances in this game. In its second season alone, Zion is averaging 7/25/3 with 61.6% field shots. If there is a basketball god, we will see LeBron and Zion playing alley-oops for each other in Atlanta.
So, do the rules need to change?
For people upset with players left out, there is a decent argument for expanding the number of selections. The NBA’s active lineups are 14 players (as opposed to just 12 for All-Star teams). And with the two bilateral contracts distributed by club, there are more guys than ever playing night after night, especially compared to when the rules were set. Personally, I like the limited lists! I’m usually totally in favor of including players, after all, this game is meaningless. But the smaller number of selections makes the honor much greater. If I were offering adjustments, I would start with a) eliminating distinctions from the conference, especially considering the team captain format and b) perhaps adding an expert role for each team as the 13th player. I have no idea how this expert thing would work in practice instead of just selecting the next best guy, but it would be fun if a sniper like Duncan Robinson or Joe Harris or a dunker like Gordon were thrown into the mix just to present some chaos. No matter what the NBA decides, you will care less about it on March 8.