All-Star Reserves - 2018

[Qwigglez]

Eastern Starters -
Kyrie Irving
DeMar DeRozan
Lebron James
Greek Freak
Joel Embiid

Western Starters -
Steph Curry
James Harden
Kevin Durant
Anthony Davis
DeMarcus Cousins

List who you believe should be an all-star this year and who should be snubbed. I believe the reserves are announced this Tuesday night. Will sticky until then.

[Qwigglez]

Western Conference Reserves -
Jimmy Butler
Russell Westbrook
KAT
LMA
Nikola Jokic
Damian Lillard
Devin Booker

Snub list - Paul George, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin. Chris Paul due to missing 20 games this season. Lillard, Booker are putting up better stats than the other guys, which is why I take them.

[u]Eastern Conference Reserves -[/u]
Victor Oladipo
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Love
KP
Andre Drummond
Bradley Beal
Goran Dragic

Snub list - Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Al Horford, Ben Simmons.

[LukasBMW]

I actually think Booker has a shot.

25.3ppg, 4.6apg, 4.5rpg and teams/coaches spend a lot of time prepping for him.

[Sunsss]

West
Butler
Aldridge
Westbrook
Thompson
Towns
Lillard
Green or Booker

East
Love
Lowry
Oladipo
Porzingis
Beal
Dragic
Horford or Wall

I think Booker will come up just short.

[Blonde]

West:

Butler
Westbrook
LMA
George
Lillard
Booker
Towns

Snubs: Green, Thompson, Cp3 (missed too many games), Jokic, Griffin

I didn't think Booker should/could be an all star until this recent string of games and the fact that we are not a bottom dweller in the conference. I think he should get the nod over Klay. Towns gets the nod over Jokic because of record and over Green because he's having a relatively down year. Lillard just flat out deserves his spot.

East:
Oladipo
Lowry
Love
Horford
Drummond
Beal
Wall

Snubs: Porzingis, Simmons, Kemba, Harris, Dragic

Porzingis had a really good start but hasn't been looking great recently. I could give him the nod over Beal or Wall but they're at least a good team. Simmons has fallen off recently too and just doesn't have the pedigree yet for me to give him the benefit of the doubt.

As usual, much weaker talent pool out East. I'd imagine western players will be off the board quickly when Lebron and Steph select teams.

[Revived]

Dragic ought to make it considering Miami is top 4 in the East and deserves a rep. And with Waiters out and Whiteside missing so many games, Dragic’s been their best player.

[bwgood77]

I'd probably have to look at the numbers before making a list. I'd be pretty shocked if Draymond Green didn't make it though. His impact is enormous.

However, is there a minimum number of guards they have to put in?

[Blonde]

I'd probably have to look at the numbers before making a list. I'd be pretty shocked if Draymond Green didn't make it though. His impact is enormous.

However, is there a minimum number of guards they have to put in?

Starters: 2 guards, 3 front court
Reserves: 2 guards, 3 front court, 2 wildcard

So you can have between 4 and 6 guards.

[batsmasher]

W:
Jimmy Buckets
KAT
Russ
Dame
PG13
LMA
Luck dip (probably not Book - Sweet Lou wouldn't surprise me at all)

E:
Dipo
Lowry
Horford
Beal
Love
Goran
Drummond or KP

[Biff]

East:

John Wall
Bradley Beal
Victor Oladipo
Al Horford
Porzingis
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Love

West:

Jimmy Butler
KAT
LMA
Lou Williams
Damian Lillard
Russell Westbrook
Clint Capela

[DB43]

West:
Jimmy Butler
KAT
LMA
Lillard
Westbrook
CP3
Devin Booker

Snubs: Klay, Dray Green, PG, Blake, Lou Will, Jokic, Capela

East:
Lowry
Love
Wall
Beal
Oladipo
Simmons
KP

snubs: Dragic, Horford, Drummond, Kemba, Miriotic

[Kerrsed]

Bunch of Homers.

You cant vote for Booker and leave Lou Williams off the list.

[hollywood6964]

Bunch of Homers.

You cant vote for Booker and leave Lou Williams off the list.

That's what I was thinking. They're on the playoff hunt with a myriad of injuries. Williams has been solid.

[DB43]

Bunch of Homers.

You cant vote for Booker and leave Lou Williams off the list.

Total homer. He's not going to make it

[Kerrsed]

Bunch of Homers.

You cant vote for Booker and leave Lou Williams off the list.

That's what I was thinking. They're on the playoff hunt with a myriad of injuries. Williams has been solid.

LouWill's numbers are better than Bookers in every category. On top of that he is on a somewhat winning team. Losing teams dont get all-stars (Unless they are voted in by fans).

Here is the comparison between Booker/Lillard/Williams: http://bkref.com/tiny/DVik4 -- Williams and Lillard over Booker.

[bwgood77]

Bunch of Homers.

You cant vote for Booker and leave Lou Williams off the list.

That's what I was thinking. They're on the playoff hunt with a myriad of injuries. Williams has been solid.

LouWill's numbers are better than Bookers in every category. On top of that he is on a somewhat winning team. Losing teams dont get all-stars (Unless they are voted in by fans).

Here is the comparison between Booker/Lillard/Williams: http://bkref.com/tiny/DVik4 -- Williams and Lillard over Booker.

I was looking at the b-ref comparison of LouWill and Booker earlier. It's really kind of shocking Lou is playing that well. If you look at his entire 13 year career on b-ref, he has never shot that well from 3, averaged nearly that many points or assists.

It feels like he is having an underrated season, though I know he scored 50 not long ago and was Western Conference player or the week or month recently.

[bwgood77]

Zach Lowe's all star teams:

Eastern Conference
Starters

G Kyrie Irving
G DeMar DeRozan
FC Giannis Antetokounmpo
FC LeBron James
FC Joel Embiid

Reserves

G Victor Oladipo
G Kyle Lowry
FC Al Horford
FC Andre Drummond
FC Kristaps Porzingis
WC Bradley Beal
WC Kevin Love

Western Conference
Starters

G James Harden
G Jimmy Butler
FC Kevin Durant
FC Anthony Davis
FC LaMarcus Aldridge

Reserves

G Stephen Curry
G Russell Westbrook
FC Draymond Green
FC Karl-Anthony Towns
FC DeMarcus Cousins
WC Klay Thompson
WC Paul George

Spoiler:

Curry is a backup here only because of 15 missed games. As some readers may remember, that is about the point at which I factor in availability; I have even disqualified some prior candidates (including Embiid last season, though he was also on a minutes restriction) for missing about that many. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul faded from this season's debate after missing 16 and 17 games, respectively. (I thought very hard about Paul anyway. He has been that good.)

Fans of those players might justifiably ask why Curry gets in. Why? Because he's Stephen Curry. He's a two-time MVP and two-time champion, an NBA revolutionary who has been ridiculous for the league's best team -- 27 points on almost 50/40/90 shooting -- when healthy. Even having missed those 15 games -- 15 potential stat-padding blowouts -- Curry is still second overall in raw plus-minus.

Butler has been a two-way monster. If we're bringing Curry off the bench, he deserves to start over Westbrook. The MVP's advantage in counting stats doesn't outweigh Butler's edge in shooting efficiency and defense.

• Towns became my last lock after deciding on Dec. 1 that he wanted to try on defense again. Trying: What a concept! Towns has been among the league's very best players ever since.

That left a gaggle of studs for the last three spots: Cousins, George, Thompson, Paul, Damian Lillard, Nikola Jokic, Lou Williams, and Devin Booker. (Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Clint Capela, Tyreke Evans, CJ McCollum and maybe a few others comprise the next tier.) Booker has the numbers, and he's made huge and important strides as a playmaker. He may be in this game next season. But with this field, you can't reward a guy performing under zero pressure for an awful team that took a collective nap on the court until its coach got fired.

Spoiler:

That left Thompson, Lillard, Williams and George for two spots. Brutal. Williams went first, which doesn't seem fair, considering his numbers are on par with those of almost every other perimeter candidate after six-plus weeks carrying the ragtag Clippers. But he's the worst defender here, and he started the season as a bench guy playing 25 or fewer minutes per game. He's a tough cut, and no one will object if he makes it.

There is no right answer to the Thompson/Lillard/George question. Lillard is the worst defender by a mile, but also the only first option. George is shooting a career-worst (excluding his six-game campaign in 2014-15) 44 percent on 2s.

Thompson is one of the hardest All-Star candidates to evaluate in league history. What an existence this dude lives. He doesn't even have to worry about dribbling. That is how you free up enough brain space to become an expert on scaffolding.

But Thompson is such a great, snap-release shooter -- probably the second-greatest ever, draining a league-best 45 percent from deep -- that he almost functions as floating second option just by moving around and drawing attention. He's a solid defender who spares Curry the burden of guarding every elite point guard, and switches across three or even four positions. Thompson doesn't look overmatched guarding LeBron and Griffin.

He's also thriving under a much heavier load when both Curry and Durant sit -- shooting about 46 percent overall, and 42.5 percent from deep amid lineups that are big positives.

Could he do what Lillard does as the alpha dog (by a hair over CJ McCollum)? Probably not. But Lillard couldn't fill Thompson's role on a potential dynasty the same way, either. The Warriors are 37-10 with a scoring differential indicating they might be even better than that. They are the defining team of today's NBA. Giving them one-third of the West's All-Star spots is fine.

George squeaks in on this ballot, though the bet here is that Lillard makes the actual team over him. That would be fine. Lillard is deserving. I wish I could swap him over to the East. But I like rewarding two-way guys, and George has been perhaps the best wing defender in the league this season. He's also averaging 21 points per game -- about four fewer than Lillard -- and shooting a career-best 43 percent from deep. Playing with Russ has its benefits.

Oklahoma City has now jumped both San Antonio and Minnesota in scoring margin. The Thunder have separated themselves from rest of the West, and George's play as their No. 2 is a huge part of that push.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22182683/zach-lowe-2018-nba-all-star-starters-reserves

[Dambo]

Im sorry bur Dame shouldnt be on that list this year.

[Wilber85]

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green should not be on the all star reserves. I will not even watch he All Star game.

[Sunsss]

West
Butler
Aldridge
Westbrook
Thompson
Towns
Lillard
Green or Booker

East
Love
Lowry
Oladipo
Porzingis
Beal
Dragic
Horford or Wall

I think Booker will come up just short.

Not bad. I thought they would have someone from Miami.