East Starters
John Wall, Wizards – leading the 31-6 and #3 seeded Wizards, Wall is first in assists per game at 10.1 and second in steals per game at 2.04
Kyle Lowry, Raptors – Toronto remains the #2 seed despite DeRozan’s injury, Lowry is 6th in the league with 7.72 WinsAboveReplacement (WAR) and 9th in the league with 6.2 Win Shares
Carmelo Anthony, Knicks – the host of this year’s All-Star game is averaging 24.3 points per game, 4th in the league for the 9-win Knicks.
LeBron James, Cavs – in an off year James is averaging 26.4 points, second only to James Harden, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and is 7th in Player Efficiency Rating (PER), 10th in the league in WAR, and 18th with 5.5 Win Shares.
Pau Gasol, Bulls – 18.3 points (most since 2010) 11.9 rebounds (would be career high season average) and 3rd in the league averaging 2.16 blocks (also would be career high season average)
West Starters
Stephen Curry, Warriors – first in the league in WAR, first in steals per game, fourth in Win Shares , fifth in assists per game, fifth in PER – averaging 22.8 ppg with 49%FG, 39%3P 92%FT for the 36-7 Warriros
Kobe Bryant, Lakers (inj) – *replacement pick (Bryant was voted as a starter and deserves it as a legacy pick for a top ten all time player – see Duncan who qualifies based on his play this year and his legacy)
Blake Griffin, Clippers – while his points per game (22.7) rebounds (7.6) blocks (0.4) FG% (.50) are all down from last season, Blake is Top 20 in PER, Win Shares, WAR, and is averaging 5 assists per game
Anthony Davis, Pelicans – 1st in PER, 2nd in the league with 9.4 Win Shares, 4th with 7.98 WAR – The Brow is also 3rd in the league in points, 1st in blocks, 8th in rebounds, and is a Top 3 player in the NBA?
Marc Gasol, Grizzlies– leading the #2 seeded 33-12 Grizzlies, Gasol is 10th in Win Shares, 14th in PER, and 25th in WAR
My All-Star East Reserves Picks
BC – Jimmy Butler, Bulls – 5th in Win Shares, 15th in WAR, Butler is averaging 20.1 ppg 6.0 rpg 3.3 apg 1.8 spg
BC – Kyle Korver, Hawks – Top 20 in Win Shares / WAR with .52 FG%, .53 3P%, and .92 FT% for the 38-8 Hawks
FC – Paul Millsap, Hawks – four Hawks in the terrible Eastern Conference is not a stretch, in fact not including all four is probably more of a stretch – Millsap is Top 15 in Win Shares / WAR – should be a starter over Carmelo
FC – Al Horford, Hawks – Top 30 in PER and Win Shares for the #1 Seeded Hawks
FC – Nikola Vucevic, Magic – along with Carmelo, Vucevic is a representative of the terrible Eastern Conference – but numbers don’t lie – 19.5 ppg 11.2 rpg 0.8 blkpg, 19th in PER and 35th in Win Shares (only 10 eastern players ahead of Vucevic on the Win Share rankings)
WC – Jeff Teague, Hawks – Top 20 in PER and Win Shares, averaging 17 ppg 7.5 apg 1.7 stlpg
WC – Kyrie Irving, Cavs – who else? Maybe Bosh, Wade, Brandon Knight? Irving has a 50 point game this season and is the reigning All-Star Game MVP. I tried hard to pick somebody else, but again Kyrie’s stats don’t lie: 13th in Win Shares, 21st in WAR, 28th in PER – averaging 22.1 points per game and a whopping 5.2 assists for a point guard on a team with Lebron James and Kevin Love
My All-Star West Reserves Picks
BC – Chris Paul, Clippers – 3rd in Assists, 3rd in Win Shares, 5th in WAR, 9th in PER, and #2 Point Guard to Steph Curry
BC – James Harden, Rockets *replacement starter – league leader in points and Win Shares, 2nd in WAR, 3rd in PER with a ridiculous stat line: 27.3 ppg 6.8 apg 5.6 rpg and 2nd in the MVP race to Steph Curry
FC – DeMarcus Cousins, Kings – 3rd in rpg with 12.3, 5th in ppg with 23.8, 8th in PER, 18th in WAR
FC – Tim Duncan, Spurs – not a legacy pick, Duncan is Top 25 in Win Shares, WAR, and PER for the surging defending champions
FC – LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers +possibly injured – 11th in PER, 20th in Win Shares, averaging 23.6 ppg 10.2 rpg 1.2 blkpg
WC – Damian Lillard, Blazers – 3rd in WAR, 6th in Win Shares, 23rd in PER – averaging 21.8 ppg 6.2 apg 4.6 rpg 1.3 stlpg
WC – Klay Thompson, Warriors – Klay is 12th in Win Shares, WAR, and PER – averaging 23 ppg 3.6 rgp 3 apg 1.3 stlpg 0.9 blkpg for the 36 win Warriors
*injury replacement for Kobe – Russell Westbrook, Thunder – in 32 games Westbrook is averaging 25.2 ppg 7.5 apg 5.9 rpg 2.3 stlpg – 4th in PER
+ possible injury replacement for Aldridge- Draymond Green, Warriors – 8th in WAR, 27th in Win Shares – Green’s 11.6 ppg 8 rpg 3.6 apg 1.6 stlpg 1.4 blkpg does not tell the whole story of his contribution to the #1 seeded Warriors
apologies to
West: Kevin Durant (only 21 games played), Mike Conley, Wesley Matthews, DeAndre Jordan, Zach Randolph, Dirk Nowitzki, and Markieff Morris
East: Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe, and Kevin Love
Stats Used:
- ESPN’s WAR: The estimated number of team wins attributable to each player, based on RPM – RPM: Player’s estimated on-court impact on team performance, measured in net point differential per 100 offensive and defensive possessions. RPM takes into account teammates, opponents and additional factors
- Basketball-Reference’s Win Shares – An estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player.
- Hollinger’s PER: Player Efficiency Rating is the overall rating of a player’s per-minute statistical production. The league average is 15.00 every season.
awoodthoughtaday 