Limited Upside podcast: Who belongs in the NBA All-Star Game if the season ended after 20 games?
It doesn’t, but let’s pretend it does.
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
We’ve reached the quarter mark of the 2017-18 NBA season, which is about the time when early-season trends should be taken seriously. As such, we took a stab at naming our 12 All-Stars in each conference if the season ended today.
(Remember: The format of the actual All-Star Game is changing to team captains picking from a pool of 24 players, but there will still be five starters and seven reserves per conference).
The big discussion points:
- Six (and probably even seven) of the 10 starters seem obvious, but what about the others? The second guard spot in the East and the final frontcourt spot out West are the toughies, though we each have one contrarian pick beyond that.
- With Kawhi Leonard injured, Jimmy Butler a bit off the pace, and Paul George struggling for consistency, the frontcourt spots out West are fairly clear. But which guards should make the team beyond James Harden, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook?
- Is Ben Simmons an All-Star? We both think so. A better question: Is he an All-Star starter?
- Man, the final East spots are crowded, with plenty of breakout performers. But regardless, we gotta sneak Victor Oladipo in there.
Who would you choose if the season ended today? For each conference, you get:
TWO STARTING GUARDS:
THREE STARTING FRONTCOURT:
TWO RESERVE GUARDS:
THREE RESERVE FRONTCOURT:
TWO PLAYERS OF ANY KIND:
Let us know!
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