RealGM

Potential East All-Stars (in no particular order)
LaMelo Ball
Trae Young
Cade Cunningham
Darius Garland
Donovan Mitchell
Jalen Brunson
Damian Lillard
Tyrese Maxey
Tyler Herro
Jaylen Brown
Franz Wagner
Paolo Banchero
Jayson Tatum
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Karl-Anthony Towns
Jarrett Allen
Derrick White
Scottie Barnes
Zach LaVine
Tyrese Haliburton
Pascal Siakam
Joel Embiid

Potential West All-Stars (in no particular order)
Nikola Jokic
Anthony Edwards
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jalen Williams
Stephen Curry
Norman Powell
James Harden
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durant
Devin Booker
De'Aaron Fox
Domantis Sabonis
Luka Doncic
Kyrie Irving
Alperen Sengun
Ja Morant
Jaren Jackson Jr
Victor Wembanyama

West:

Starters:

Jokic
Wemby
LeBron
SGA
Edwards


Bench:

Curry
Davis
Durant
Irving
Harden
J-Dub
Sengun


East:

Starters:

KAT
Giannis
Tatum
Mitchell
Brunson

Bench:

Young
Lillard
Brown
Mobley
Allen
Cade
Haliburton

My predictions:

East:
LaMelo Ball
Donovan Mitchell
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Karl-Anthony Towns
Jayson Tatum
Cade Cunningham
Darius Garland
Evan Mobley
Franz Wagner
Jaylen Brown
Jalen Brunson
Damian Lillard

West:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Stephen Curry
LeBron James
Nikola Jokic
Victor Wembanyama
Anthony Edwards
Kyrie Irving
Anthony Davis
Jalen Williams
Jaren Jackson Jr
Kevin Durant
Alperen Sengun

I continue to not understand how the new allstar format impacts the allstar starters. The voting happened like usual but there are now 3 allstar teams of 8 players each (and one of them plays vs rising stars). So if there's 3 allstar teams they need 15 starters, not 10. So who actually starts and for which team?

Anyway... leaving the starters aside I have these 12 from each conference:

East:
Lamelo Ball
Donovan M
Tatum
Giannis
Towns
Paolo
Brown
Brunson
Trae
Mobley
Trae
Cade
And probably Dame although I'd prefer Derrick White or another Cav

West:
Curry
Durant
Bron
AD
Jokic
SGA
Wemby
Sengun
Ant
Luka
Jalen Williams
And then there's only 1 spot for Kyrie, Harden, JJJ or Morant, Sabonis and prob someone I'm completely forgetting. Shrug.

bisme37 wrote:I continue to not understand how the new allstar format impacts the allstar starters. The voting happened like usual but there are now 3 allstar teams of 8 players each (and one of them plays vs rising stars). So if there's 3 allstar teams they need 15 starters, not 10. So who actually starts and for which team?

Anyway... leaving the starters aside I have these 12 from each conference:

East:
Lamelo Ball
Donovan M
Tatum
Giannis
Towns
Paolo
Brown
Brunson
Trae
Mobley
Trae
Cade
And probably Dame although I'd prefer Derrick White or another Cav

West:
Curry
Durant
Bron
AD
Jokic
SGA
Wemby
Sengun
Ant
Luka
Jalen Williams
And then there's only 1 spot for Kyrie, Harden, JJJ or Morant, Sabonis and prob someone I'm completely forgetting. Shrug.

I think Paolo's only way in is through fan vote so he'd have to be a starter and I just don't see him getting in there with player and media votes based on how little he's played. I think Franz has a better chance than he does.

ijspeelman wrote:

bisme37 wrote:I continue to not understand how the new allstar format impacts the allstar starters. The voting happened like usual but there are now 3 allstar teams of 8 players each (and one of them plays vs rising stars). So if there's 3 allstar teams they need 15 starters, not 10. So who actually starts and for which team?

Anyway... leaving the starters aside I have these 12 from each conference:

East:
Lamelo Ball
Donovan M
Tatum
Giannis
Towns
Paolo
Brown
Brunson
Trae
Mobley
Trae
Cade
And probably Dame although I'd prefer Derrick White or another Cav

West:
Curry
Durant
Bron
AD
Jokic
SGA
Wemby
Sengun
Ant
Luka
Jalen Williams
And then there's only 1 spot for Kyrie, Harden, JJJ or Morant, Sabonis and prob someone I'm completely forgetting. Shrug.

I think Paolo's only way in is through fan vote so he'd have to be a starter and I just don't see him getting in there with player and media votes based on how little he's played. I think Franz has a better chance than he does.

I went Paolo over Franz just cuz I figured he's the one back playing now and will be more on the minds of voters. But I dunno.

Both are eliminated from end of year awards based on games missed, but either or both could be Allstars.

Any word on who's In the dunk contest ? ...

Ja/Antman need to be In It.

East All-Stars

Starters:
Jalen Brunson
Donovan Mitchell
Jayson Tatum
Giannis Antetokoumpo
Karl-Anthony Towns

Reserves:
Cade Cunningham
Evan Mobley
Jaylen Brown
Jarrett Allen
Trae Young

Wild Cards:
Damian Lillard
LaMelo Ball


West All-Stars

Starters:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Stephen Curry
LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Nikola Jokic

Reserves:
Victor Wembanyama
Alperen Sengun
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Anthony Edwards
De'Aaron Fox


Wild Cards:
Anthony Davis
Jalen Williams

So are the wild cards players from any position that the coaches choose?

Honestly, I pay almost no attention to the all-star game anymore.

jasonxxx102 wrote:So are the wild cards players from any position that the coaches choose?

Honestly, I pay almost no attention to the all-star game anymore.

Yup. Format is basically 4 guards, 6 frontcourt, and then 2 of any position for each conference.

I am actually kinda interested in the four team tourney. I don't think you can solve the all-star game so these gimmicks are a nice distraction every few years (I may the only one saying this lol)

bisme37 wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:

bisme37 wrote:I continue to not understand how the new allstar format impacts the allstar starters. The voting happened like usual but there are now 3 allstar teams of 8 players each (and one of them plays vs rising stars). So if there's 3 allstar teams they need 15 starters, not 10. So who actually starts and for which team?

Anyway... leaving the starters aside I have these 12 from each conference:

East:
Lamelo Ball
Donovan M
Tatum
Giannis
Towns
Paolo
Brown
Brunson
Trae
Mobley
Trae
Cade
And probably Dame although I'd prefer Derrick White or another Cav

West:
Curry
Durant
Bron
AD
Jokic
SGA
Wemby
Sengun
Ant
Luka
Jalen Williams
And then there's only 1 spot for Kyrie, Harden, JJJ or Morant, Sabonis and prob someone I'm completely forgetting. Shrug.

I think Paolo's only way in is through fan vote so he'd have to be a starter and I just don't see him getting in there with player and media votes based on how little he's played. I think Franz has a better chance than he does.

I went Paolo over Franz just cuz I figured he's the one back playing now and will be more on the minds of voters. But I dunno.

Both are eliminated from end of year awards based on games missed, but either or both could be Allstars.

Paolo has only played 10 games (even less than Embiid). Doubt he’ll get a traction with media and player votes.

SlimShady83 wrote:Any word on who's In the dunk contest ? ...

Ja/Antman need to be In It.

So far I've heard Buzelis from Chicago and Castle from San Antonio

Not gonna lie, Castle seemed out of left field. He's had some nice in game dunks but nothing I've seen so far screams dunk contest participant

If it were up to me:

East:

Antetokounmpo
Tatum
Towns
Brunson
Mitchell

Allen
Mobley
Wagner
Ball
White

Cunningham
Garland

West:

Davis
Jokić
Wembanyama
Dončić
SGA

JJJ
James
Şengün
Edwards
Williams

Curry
Sabonis

In the new format, are the top 3 vote leaders each on a different team?

East
"Starters" LaMelo, Mitchell, Tatum, Giannis, KAT
Bench Guards: Brunson & Garland
Bench Forwards: JB, Mobley, Pascal
Wildcards: Cade, Dame
Snubs: Trae, LaVine, Herro, Allen

- With LaMelo leading the fan votes, I don't think he'll slip too much to remove him from being named a starter. I think he'll be up there with the player's votes with the potential for slippage obviously coming from the media.
- I struggled with finding a 6th forward because I don't think Paolo or Franz should be eligible with how many games they have/will miss. The Raptors bias in me went with Pascal who is having a career year shooting the 3ball at 40.5% as he carries this Pacers team whose had to deal with so many injuries and Hali's up and down play. As instrumental as Jarrett is to Cleveland, I just don't think his numbers pop out as much to warrant having a 4th all star, especially with a marginal on/off positive.

West
"Starters" SGA, Curry, Bron, Wemby, Jokic
Bench Guards: Kyrie, Ant
Bench Forwards: JDub, Sengun, AD
Wildcards: JJJ, Sabonis
Snubs: Luka*, Ja, Harden, Norm, Fox and Booker

- There's a ton of deserving candidates and I think Luka will miss the ASG since he is set to be revaluated and not actually returning on Jan 27. He's only played 22 games so far and played well below his absurd standards
- I think the coaches will reward winning when it comes to Memphis and Houston with JJJ and Sengun getting the nod although I can see Ja potentially getting the nod for Memphis. I dont see any scenario where they get two with such a loaded conference.
- With Sabonis, his numbers are so absurd its impossible to ignore. His efficiency is ridiculous and he's the current leader in 3pt% and RPG while also being a +9.1 on/off with him finally being a positive on the defensive end of the floor

TheHartBreakKid wrote:In the new format, are the top 3 vote leaders each on a different team?

According to NBA.com, Shaq, Kenny, and Charles will just be drafting teams from the 24 NBA All-Stars. They won't be split before then.

https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format

EAST:
Starters - LaMelo Ball, Mitchell, Tatum, Giannis, KAT
Bench - Mobley, Brunson, Brown, Garland, Cunningham, Trae, J. Allen

WEST:
Starters - Doncić, SGA, Davis, Durant, Jokić
Bench - Irving, Edwards, LBJ, Curry, JJJ, Jalen Williams, Şengün

Şengün over Sabonis for last spot due to coaches looking at team record, J. Allen over Lillard for last spot in the East due to Cavs record.

ijspeelman wrote:

TheHartBreakKid wrote:In the new format, are the top 3 vote leaders each on a different team?

According to NBA.com, Shaq, Kenny, and Charles will just be drafting teams from the 24 NBA All-Stars. They won't be split before then.

https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format

That's lame.

I was hoping they'd make the East/West starters two of the teams, with the 'worst' East/West stars filling in as their bench. The other two teams would be the East subs and West subs. East Starters play East Subs to decide who represents the East in the final, same deal with the West. Giving the subs a chance to prove they're better than the starters could potentially add a little spice to the proceedings.

I haven't looked at the voting #s, but:

East

C KAT / Vucevic
F Giannis / F Wagner (Mobley)
F J Tatum / J Brown
G LaMelo Ball / D Mitchell
G J Brunson / Cade Cunningham / D Lillard

West

C Jokic / D Sabonis
F A Davis / JJJ
F L James / K Durant / J Williams
G L Doncic (K Irving) / S Curry
G SGA / A Edwards / N Powell

Hornet Mania wrote:

ijspeelman wrote:

TheHartBreakKid wrote:In the new format, are the top 3 vote leaders each on a different team?

According to NBA.com, Shaq, Kenny, and Charles will just be drafting teams from the 24 NBA All-Stars. They won't be split before then.

https://www.nba.com/news/2025-nba-all-star-game-new-format

That's lame.

I was hoping they'd make the East/West starters two of the teams, with the 'worst' East/West stars filling in as their bench. The other two teams would be the East subs and West subs. East Starters play East Subs to decide who represents the East in the final, same deal with the West. Giving the subs a chance to prove they're better than the starters could potentially add a little spice to the proceedings.

It's really lame. If the whole point is to make it more competitive, why have 3 entertainers pick the teams, each who was their own agenda and (usually irrational) opinions about these players?

And I like that idea.

NBA just could have done so much better with this imo. I had a lenghty post about my idea a few weeks ago, which was, to keep it short:

Team International
Top West U.S vote leaders
Top East U.S vote leaders
Rest of the allstars

Maybe that idea is too messy with the international part. But I don't see why they couldn't do something like your idea.