The definitive 2018 NBA All-Star reserve picks

If it feels as though the whole NBA All-Star selection process is happening inordinately fast this season, it’s because it is. We usually wait a full week between the announcements of the starters and reserves for the All-Star teams, but things are expedited because we have a draft to not watch!

The starters, determined by a combination of fan, player, and media voting, were announced last Thursday. The four starting guards are Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, and James Harden. The six starting frontcourt players are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, and DeMarcus Cousins.

You’ll notice there are no East-West designations there. That’s because while All-Stars are being selected by conference per normal, they will play on teams drafted by the two captains, LeBron and Curry. Hence the hurry: The All-Star reserves, selected by coaches, are being named a couple of days early so the NBA can hold the secret (yes, secret) draft to divvy them up. The two All-Star teams that result from the draft will be announced Thursday.

Before the coaches’ picks for All-Star reserves are announced, though, you get my picks. This is not an official ballot, because I am not an official NBA head coach. Yet. (Call me, Milwaukee.)

Remember: While the players won’t play for their conference in the All-Star Game, they are being selected out of the conference.

Victor Oladipo, Pacers

Oladipo has not just been the NBA’s stone-cold most improved player this season, but he’s certainly been one of the three best guards in the Eastern Conference. There was a real case for him to be elected a starter by the numbers given his exceptional production and quality defense. Alas, team success does matter and the Celtics and Raptors are far superior to the Pacers.

Oladipo will be a first-time All-Star (barring an unconscionable snub). The domino effect of his breakout season is really something. It’s colored some observers’ views of Russell Westbrook, it has boosted the reputations of Nate McMillan (nowhere near a hot seat) and Kevin Pritchard, and it has changed both the playoff race (where no one had Indiana before the season) and the Luka Doncic sweepstakes (where some thought the Pacers would play a major role).

Kyle Lowry, Raptors

Lowry is putting up very Kyle Lowry stats (17-6-6) for the best Raptors team ever. His defense and leadership remain worth commendation; his partnership with DeRozan is truly one of the best things going in the NBA and maybe North America.

Some guards (including [spoiler alert] my two wild card picks) have gaudier numbers. But the total Lowry package is certainly one of the best 12 packages in the East this season to date.

Al Horford, Celtics

Horford was a popular choice for the third starting frontcourt spot, but Joel Embiid beat him out. Like Lowry, Horford doesn’t have the most eye-popping numbers (13-7-5). El Dominicano, however, anchors the NBA’s top defense and is an integral part of the offense, both as a secondary playmaker alongside Irving and as a pop-a-shot option in the mid-range.

Regardless of how you feel about rewarding the best teams with multiple All-Star spots, Horford deserves to be in.

Kevin Love, Cavaliers

Note that votes from NBA coaches for the reserves (and the bulk of this column) were punched in before Monday’s report that some Cavaliers have accused Love of feigning illness to escape Saturday’s game against the Thunder and Sunday’s team practice. No word on Love’s fit status (in or out).

As for the All-Star team, he should be in. This has been his most productive season since leaving Minnesota, and he’s clearly been the second-best Cavalier after LeBron, a low threshold to be sure but a threshold nonetheless. He’s no Horford on defense, but his scoring, shooting, and rebounding have been quite strong.

Kristaps Porzingis, Knicks

Porzingis beats out Andre Drummond for the final dedicated frontcourt spot on my fake All-Star team. Why? The Pistons aren’t much better than the Knicks (two games in the standings) and no one quite knows whether Drummond is the most valuable Piston, or if that honor goes to the quietly awesome Tobias Harris. Allow me to suggest a rule of thumb: If no one’s positive you’re the best player on your non-playoff team, you’re not a definite All-Star.

Porzingis, meanwhile, is clearly the best Knick who isn’t already a certified legend (word to Michael Beasley) and while his production has waned as the season wears on, 23 points per game in his first season as the main event is a big deal.

Bradley Beal, Wizards
John Wall, Wizards

For the wild card slots in the East, I took the Wizards’ starting backcourt despite Washington’s bizarre and disappointing campaign. Beal is the No. 15 scorer in the league and a good shooter who kept the Wizards afloat while Wall sat. Wall missed 11 games, but 19-9 on good shooting with good defense puts him over Goran Dragic, Kemba Walker, Drummond, Ben Simmons, a shockingly effective Khris Middleton, and Harris. Besides, he and Beal deserve to play with guys they don’t hate for one night.

Russell Westbrook, Thunder

Westbrook is just a shade under another triple-double average, albeit scoring substantially less than in the MVP 2016-17. He won’t come close to claiming another trophy because of Oklahoma City’s weird struggles and Oladipo’s emergence outside the shadow, but oh well. He clearly deserves an All-Star spot.

Jimmy Butler, Timberwolves

Butler too is an obvious All-Star choice. His lack of support among fans and players who voted for All-Star starters is truly confounding. Paul Flannery’s theory — that people don’t think of him as a guard, and so forgot him — is the only one that makes sense, especially since Karl-Anthony Towns received some ballot love.

Anyways, Butler is a top contender for the No. 5 spot on hella MVP ballots, so of course he’s an All-Star.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs

Like Horford, Aldridge was a popular media pick for the third starting frontcourt spot. Unlike Horford, Aldridge has hefty counting stats (22-8) for his injury-depleted Spurs. That San Antonio has the No. 2 defense and the No. 3 seed in the West missing plausibly distant Kawhi Leonard basically all season is both shocking (Kawhi is incredible) and unsurprising (this is the Spurs). Aldridge’s excellence has been a major explanation.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves

Towns appears to be a divisive All-Star option. Dude is averaging 20-12 on 54-41-84 shooting for the team with the No. 6 scoring margin in the league. Give me a break. He’s an All-Star.

Paul George, Thunder

George is the best defender on the No. 3 defense in the NBA, and he’s scoring 20 points per game at high efficiency playing off Westbrook. He’s neck-and-neck-and-neck with Butler and Draymond Green for best two-way player this season (Oladipo and Lowry are in the conversation, too). The All-Star ballot requires difficult choices, and perhaps none are more difficult than the last spot on this year’s Western ballot (effectively the third reserve frontcourt spot and the two wild card slots).

Damian Lillard, Blazers

Lillard has carried a weird and underperforming Blazers team. This hasn’t been his best individual season, but just because he’s been snubbed when he’s been better doesn’t mean he deserves a spot less this time around, if that makes sense. Again, these are hard decisions.

Klay Thompson, Warriors

The final spot really comes down to Thompson and Draymond Green, two absolutely vital cogs in the Warriors’ death machine. Green (11-8-7 this season) has been shockingly quiet for everyone except the referees. He’s unlikely to win the Defensive Player of the Year if only because Kevin Durant is the far more stylish pick among Warriors. He’s been damn good, and it’s always nice to see relative non-scorers picked for All-Star.

But Thompson has just been so wonderful in his role. He’s still averaging 20 per game on hyperefficient shooting and guarding tough draws just about every night. This is a hard decision. But Green is boring at All-Star anyways. Let Klay cook.

The Miami Heat, Devin Booker (the Kevin Martin fanboy in me weeps), Andre Drummond, and Draymond Green. If justice has been stolen, justice shall be granted.