Who deserves to play in the NBA All-Star Game?

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) dunks in front of Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

The starters for the NBA All-Star Game will be announced Thursday, based on a formula where the fan vote counts for 50 per cent of each player’s total, the players’ vote counts for 25 per cent and the media vote for another 25 per cent.

The coaches then vote to fill out the seven reserve spots in each conference, with that announcement coming on Feb. 3. The game is set for Cleveland on Feb. 20.

From a Toronto Raptors perspective, that’s when things should get interesting. Both Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam have done well in the fan vote, each creeping into seventh place, respectively. But barring an all-out social media blitz from Drake, the Raptors pillars will need the coaches to give them the nod for the honour of spending a February weekend on the sunny shores of St. Lucia, er, Lake Erie.

Some rules do apply: three of the starters mush from the pool of designated frontcourt players and two from the backcourt contingent, which complicates things. The NBA calls the Chicago Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan a guard, even though he been playing forward for them all season, and the league says the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler is a forward even though he’s arguably their primary ball handler.

Similarly, the coaches must follow the same three-two split, but then have two ‘wild cards’ they can use regardless of position. The result is the maximum number of backcourt players on each all-star team is six, and in theory there could be as few as four.

I was fortunate enough to have a ballot, which I submitted on Saturday with my starters for each conference, so I’ll go through that and then I’ll offer my suggestions for the coach’s picks, as I’m sure they’re hanging on every word.

Eastern Conference Starters

Frontcourt

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: No need to over-complicate things here. The Bucks star and reigning Finals MVP is putting up another ho-hum historic season. He won consecutive MVPs in 2019 and 2020 averaging 28.5/13/5.6 with 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks on True Shooting percentage (which calculates the combined value of two-point shots, three-point shots and free throws) of .629. This season he’s at 28.6/11.2/6.0 and 1/1.3 with at TS% of .613. The Bucks are good, he’s a lock.

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: Just a wrecking ball. ‘Imagine if Shaq could shoot?’, used to be a thing. Not anymore. Over his last 18 games, Embiid is averaging 34/10.6/4.3 with a TS% of .651 as he connects on 39 per cent of his threes and 85 per cent of his free throws. Imposing defender, the Sixers are good, he’s a lock.

Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets: He’s out with a sprained knee and will miss the game, but he’s still an All-Star. Hehe kept Brooklyn above water while Kyrie Irving was being Kyrie Irving and James Harden was out of shape. You feel like Durant can average 29.3/7.4/5.8 on 52 per cent shooting in his sleep, and he pretty much does. He’s averaged 28/7/5 per 36 minutes on 52 per cent shooting for seven seasons. Bananas. Nets are good, he’s a lock.

Backcourt

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks: Things get a little tricky here. The Hawks have under-performed badly and Young isn’t exactly a defensive stopper, but he’s an offensive wizard averaging 27.7 points and 9.3 assists a game -- ranking fifth and third, respectively. He is not a lock, but I put him on the ballot, with apologies to VanVleet, who I should have made a starter.

DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls: DeRozan is putting together one of his finest seasons (26.4/4.8/5 on 58.3 TS%) and doing it as he helps lead a Bulls team that missed the playoffs last year to within a half-game of first place in the East as of this writing. As always, DeRozan’s defence is suspect and the Bulls have gained plenty from the additions of Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, while Zach LaVine is putting together a typically under-appreciated season. But DeRozan has lent some weight to the whole project. In the end, a lock.

Reserves

Frontcourt

Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat: It would be handy if played more than 30 games, but it’s hard to judge too much in these COVID times. Butler is a winning machine, beyond his 21/6/6 line. He bulls his way to the free-throw line eight times per/36 and his .260 WS/48 trails only four of the most efficient bigs in league history in Nikola Jokic, Antetokounmpo, Embiid and Rudy Gobert. He defends. A lock.

Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers: Acquiring a 22-year-old Allen (and Taurean Prince, later flipped to Minnesota for Ricky Rubio) from Brooklyn for a late first-round pick last season could go down as an all-time heist for the Cavs. He can’t shoot but does everything else you could want from a modern big: intimidate at the rim, switches passably on the perimeter and dunks everything in sight, as his 68.9 per cent field percentage attests.

Domantis Sabonis, Indiana Pacers: It seems strange to me that the Pacers are reportedly willing trade an fficient, versatile big (19.6/12.3/5.0 per/36 on .648 TS%) who has two years after this one on an affordable contract and is still just 25 years old, but whatever. Sabonis keeps producing, why that doesn’t lead to winning, I don’t know, but he should get his third straight All-Star nod.

Backcourt

Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors: If I’m being honest, if I didn’t cover the team I might have been more certain to vote for VanVleet as a starter, and if I was doing it all over again, I would have. VanVleet is averaging 21.7/7/4.7 -- all career-highs -- and has a chance to join Steph Curry and James Harden as the only players to make 300 triples in a season. As any Raptors fan knows, he shines defensively -- ranking second in deflections, 10th in steals and seventh in loose balls recovered. That’s a lot of disrupted possessions. Advanced or ‘catch all’ metrics love him. He’s an All-Star and hopefully the coaches will help him finish his journey from undrafted to elite.

Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls: All this guy does is make shots from wherever he releases. He’s a big reason Chicago might be more dangerous at playoff time than some might expect -- between him and DeRozan they will be able to score against the sloggiest of defences. LaVine is averaging 24.9/4.9/4.3 but it’s the efficiency that jumps out -- 40.4 per cent from deep on more than seven attempts a game. Among players with a usage rate above 25 per cent, Levine’s 61 TS% is eighth behind only the league’s leading MVP candidates, basically.

Wild cards

Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors: Siakam missed 13 of the Raptors' first 15 games as he recovered from off-season shoulder surgery and was at best OK for 10 or so games after that. But it’s impossible to ignore his production since Dec. 1 as he’s put up 22.5/5.9/8.8 with the Raptors going 14-10 in that stretch. Only Jokic, Harden, Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic are at those thresholds this season. Two All-Stars from a .500 team might be a problem, but it’s not his fault the Raptors' rotation runs five deep.

James Harden, Brooklyn Nets: There’s something in me that struggles to recognize a high-volume, shoot-first point guard who shoots the ball so poorly -- 42 per cent overall and 33.7 from deep, and those turnovers (4.8!) are tough to swallow. But he leads the league in assists, (10.1); he drives offence and the Nets are a pretty good team. I apologize to the Bucks’ Jrue Holiday.

Western Conference Starters

Frontcourt

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: The guy is a weirdo, basically. He’s in his 19th season and is averaging 29.1/7.7/6.5 while flipping between point centre and point guard. We’ll never see anything like him again. Too bad the Lakers are such a mess. A lock.

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets: He averages 26/2/13/8/7.6 and is a constant triple-double threat. But also, by any advanced measure, he is hammering out one of the greatest seasons in NBA history. His PER (player efficiency rating) of 33.1 would be the highest ever recorded over a full season. He’s averaging .303 WinShares per 48 minutes, and while that means nothing to most people for good reason, it’s worth mentioning because the only players to top .300 twice are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James and Michael Jordan. Jokic did it last year when he won MVP.

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz: The towering Frenchman might not have the sexiest game, but he’s one of the NBA’s best defenders -- and is averaging 16 points and 15 rebounds a night with 2.3 blocks, which has only been done four times and only by Hall-of-Famers. The last time was Moses Malone in 1982-83 on his way to an MVP award. The Jazz are 12.7 points per 100 possessions better when he plays than when he sits.

Backcourt

Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors: Curry is shooting just 29 per cent from three in January, which hurts when he’s taking 10 threes per game, but let’s just say he deserves the benefit of the doubt given he was putting up 27.7 points and shooting 40 per cent from deep (still below his career standards, amazingly) in 32 games before that. Whether it’s a wrist problem or missing Draymond Green’s playmaking and screen setting, who knows, but Curry starts.

Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies: The third-year guard leads the NBA in HPN -- highlights per night -- as he unleashes a steady torrent of jaw-dropping quickness and hops like a hybrid of Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose at their peaks. He’s averaging 25.8 points and 6.9 assists in just 33 minutes a game and is at worst everyone’s second-favourite player. The Grizzlies are good. He’s a lock.

Reserves

Frontcourt

Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors: His counting stats never add up to much – though at 9.5/9.1/8.8 per 36 he’s a triple double-threat any night he plays more than his typical 30 minutes and there’s plenty of blocks and steals, too. But it’s his impact that matters. He is the best defender on the NBA’s best defence, and the Warriors, recent struggles aside, are the second-best team in the league.

Karl Anthony-Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves: The LaVine of big men -- he just makes shots. He will very likely supplant Dirk Nowitzki as the best shooting seven-footer of all time. He’s putting up 24.1/9.4/3.6 while shooting his typical 40 per cent from deep, high volume. He’s doing it for a much more competitive T-Wolves team than has been the norm and playing a slightly reduced role to accommodate the emerging Anthony Edwards.

Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels were trash to start the season (3-15), but are 15-14 since and a big reason has been the big Lithuanian, who seems destined to be part of rebuilding projects and then get moved before the good part. The former Raptor is averaging 20.9 points and 13.7 rebounds per/36 and is shooting 41.7 per cent from three on just enough attempts to keep defences honest.

Backcourt

Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns: If there is any justice Paul, will finally get his ring this season -- his 18th -- as he quarterbacks the NBA’s best regular-season team after losing in the NBA Finals last season. Paul is tied for the league lead in assists with 10.1 but is committing just 2.3 turnovers a game. He’s among the league-leaders in steals and absolutely is the league leader in making sure his teammates are where they should be. The Suns are running away with the West. Lock.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns: Getting better year by year, and his defence is visibly better possession by possession. And at the heart of it remains one of the NBA’s best bucket getters as he leads the Suns with 25 points a game while adding some improved three-point shooting (37.7 per cent) to an already lethal mid-range arsenal. Lock.

Wild Cards

Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs: The best player almost no one pays attention to. A terror on defence -- he leads the NBA in steals with two per game-- who has begun to flourish offensively, averaging 19.2 points, 9.1 assists and 8.4 rebounds. Were he more dangerous from three (31.4 per cent) he’d be a superstar, and may yet be, given he’s only 25.

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks: It won’t be an MVP season as many predicted for the gifted Dallas guard, but he can dominate games even half trying, or even if he’s not in great shape, which is something he’s admitted he’s going to need to address. Carrying an extra 20 pounds or so is no big deal when you’re 23, but if it’s an extra 30 and Doncic is 28, it’s hard to imagine his career will end up being all it could be. He’s contributing 25.2/8.9/8.7 so it feels nitpicky to point out he’s shooting 30 per cent from three, but as good as Doncic is, he should be and could be way better. He’s still an All-Star though.

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