The starters for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game are set, and whether or not you agree with who was named, there’s likely little debate over their spots on the roster.
That almost assuredly won’t be the case for the reserves, as there are many deserving candidates but only 14 spots to fill.
Coaches from around the league will choose seven for each conference, and must select two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards. The all-star reserves will be announced on Jan. 30.
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Here’s a look at the reserves we predict will be selected to play in Chicago on Feb. 16.
Eastern Conference
The most notable omissions from the choices we’ve made here are the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Malcolm Brogdon of the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine.
LaVine is probably the easiest to take out of the equation because of how bad the Bulls are. The decision to remove Tatum and Brogdon, both excellent players on strong teams, was much more difficult, but does make sense when considering the cases for the other players we’ve selected.
Guards: Kyle Lowry, Bradley Beal
The Toronto Raptors already have one all-star in Pascal Siakam, and deserve a second one. That guy is Lowry.
This would be Lowry’s sixth straight all-star selection and one he’s made a very strong case for as he’s (still) the most important player on the third-best team in the East.
Additionally, coaches generally reward all-star nods to guys who are playing well and have been perennial selections in years past. This isn’t to say Lowry doesn’t deserve to be named an all-star this season, because he absolutely does, but he has his past working in his favour as well.
As for Beal, his Washington Wizards are even worse than the Bulls, making his selection look a little more dubious, but his case is similar to Trae Young’s in that he’s been so dominant an offensive player that he’s someone coaches can’t help but give respect to.
He also has the advantage of being named an all-star the past two years, something that will work against the cases of Tatum, Brogdon and LaVine despite the obvious impact on winning Tatum and Brogon have had, and the similar numbers LaVine is putting up.
Forwards: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Domantas Sabonis
Though he’s not in the conversation, Butler is an MVP candidate as he’s helped turn a Miami Heat team no one thought was going to be much better than a No. 5 seed into the East’s second-best team and a legitimate championship contender.
The case for Adebayo, Butler’s Heat teammate, isn’t quite as clear-cut, but no less deserving. He’s one of just 16 players in the league averaging a double-double this season and is the second-best player on one of the NBA’s elite teams. He won’t go unnoticed by the coaches.
A similar case can be made for Sabonis, who is the Pacers’ best player and whose old-school, crafty, back-to-the-basket game is reminiscent of his father’s, Arvydas Sabonis. It’s Sabonis’s passing out of the post that has been one of the keys to Indiana’s success, and Sabonis should be rewarded for what has been a career-best season for him so far.
Wild Cards: Khris Middleton, Ben Simmons
Middleton’s case should be very obvious. The Milwaukee Bucks are the league’s best team and he’s their second-best player. A lot of good teams have their two best players in as all-stars, and the Bucks should as well.
Beyond that, Middleton is enjoying a better season than last season, including in scoring, field-goal percentage and three-point percentage.
Simmons, on the other hand, might be the toughest case to justify. He is likely going to get in because of both his reputation and that of the Philadelphia 76ers as one of the East’s elite – even though they sit in sixth place in the standings. But does he really deserve it?
Yes, he’s shooting better from the field than ever before and is averaging a career-high in assists while leading the league in steals. However, he still either can’t or won’t shoot threes, and can’t seem to play well with his team’s primary option, Joel Embiid, despite being listed as a point guard.
A player like Brogdon or Tatum are probably far more deserving of an all-star nod than Simmons, but he’s going to get in and they probably won’t.
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Western Conference
As usual, there are many more deserving candidates from the West than the East, but a big sticking point in the predictions we’ve made in the Western Conference was for players on top teams and talents that appear to be truly transcendent.
As such, the likes of DeMar DeRozan from the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies rookie sensation Ja Morant, Phoenix Suns super-scorer Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves are being left out.
Guards: Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell
Playing for a Portland Trail Blazers team that hasn’t been able to find its footing all season long, Lillard falls under the category of “transcendent talent.” Lillard is the kind of player fans tune into the All-Star Game to watch: a dynamic scorer with a wicked handle who is willing and able to pass the ball with the best of them.
It wouldn’t be much of an All-Star Game without Lillard in it.
Mitchell also has to be an all-star lock. It is his steady and spectacular offensive play that helped the Utah Jazz snap out of a season-opening funk and has suddenly catapulting to No. 2 in the West with a 31-13 record.
During that hot streak that saw Utah go 18-2, Mitchell averaged 24.6 points on 49.7 per cent shooting and a 36.7 per cent clip from three-point range on 6.7 attempts per game.
Forwards: Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic, Paul George
Like his Jazz teammate Mitchell, Gobert has raised the level of his game during their last 20 contests to help Utah shoot up into second place. The two-time defending defensive player of the year has been a star for a while now, and now it’s time to make it official.
As for Jokic, he isn’t having the season he had in 2018-19, but he should still be a lock as an all-star as he’s not only arguably the best centre in the world, he’s the most uniquely skilled player at beating opponents with his interior scoring, his outside stroke, his dominant rebounding and his incredible passing.
The Denver Nuggets have been trading places with many teams within the West’s top four, and Jokic is the biggest reason for that.
George rounds out our selections for West forwards as he’s come to the Clippers exactly as advertised. He’s still a deadeye, elite spot-up shooter with game-breaking potential as a scorer when allowed to operate, in addition to being as good a perimeter defender as there is.
The only real knock against George is he’s only played 23 games this season as he was recovering from a couple shoulder surgeries to start the season. Still, in those 23 games he’s been his usual, incredible self so he should be a no-brainer all-star selection.
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Wild Cards: Russell Westbrook, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Here is where things get interesting in the West.
The guards and forwards we chose should all be shoo-ins, but these final two remaining wild-card spots could be filled by any of the players we listed above as just missing the cut, in addition to these two players.
Westbrook is probably a contentious choice, but it’s one that will likely be made by the coaches because he has the reputation of being a big-time star with counting stats to support that claim while playing for a perceived power team in the Houston Rockets.
Apologies to those who prefer advanced statistics and/or aren’t a fan of his attitude, but Westbrook is going to be named an all-star for the ninth time.
This bring us to an all-star selection that is more wishful thinking, but has a case steeply based in reality: Gilgeous-Alexander.
With the departure of Westbrook and everything the team acquired in the George trade, it was expected that the Oklahoma City Thunder were going to go in the tank and start a re-build. The biggest problem with that theory, as we’ve learned so far this season, is that Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander came back as part of the George haul, and he’s too good and too competitive to play for a re-building team.
The Hamilton, Ont., native leads the Thunder in scoring and, miraculously, has OKC comfortably in the seventh seed in the West with both time and possibility to move up even more. This, by itself, gives merit to the idea that the Thunder deserve an all-star this season.
And, yes, having Chris Paul come back in the Westbrook deal has aided things greatly with the Thunder, but he wouldn’t be the right choice as an all-star. That’s not because Paul isn’t putting up all-star numbers – which are just fringe all-star worthy, by the way – but more because the Thunder have a rising star in Gilgeous-Alexander who has revived the hopes of a franchise that looked destined to be lottery-bound.
Gilgeous-Alexander should be an all-star.
