2018 NBA All-Star Starting Lineups Announced!
The NBA announced last off-season that the All-Star game would be getting a revamp for 2018. The changes included scrapping the East vs. West format and moving a draft in which the top vote receiver in each conference would earn the right to draft his squad. Unfortunately for fans, the draft will not be televised and the order in which the players are taken will also not be revealed. The captains will draft first a set of four starters (plus themselves to fill out the starting lineup), but can choose players from either conference. The pool of reserves will then be drafted following the starters draft concluding. I'm personally excited for the intrigue that this will cause and the endless debate of who was picked at what point in the draft.
With that being said, let's take a look at the Eastern Conference Starters pool:
East Captain: LeBron James
Honestly no real surprise here. James is having one of his greatest seasons statistically and carried the Cavs to the three-seed in the East. The fact that he won the fan vote by just over 100,000 votes compared to Giannis Antetokounmpo shows that there may be a changing of the guard in the near future.
East Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid
Not a huge surprise with these two picks either. Giannis was the lead vote getter after the first round of fan voting and as I mentioned before was a mere 100,000 votes away from being named captain of the Eastern squad. The bigger surprise comes from Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. While Embiid received more fan votes and votes from media members, Embiid was actually behind Kristaps Porzingis in the player voting. The two are very close and I don't have a problem with Embiid over Porzingis personally.
East Backcourt: Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan
Both players are highly deserving of the starting nod. Irving has led Boston to the best record in the Eastern Conference and has had an extremely efficient first year as a Celtic. DeRozan on the other hand has been a scoring phenom for the Tornonto Raptors and has them sitting one spot behind the Celtics in the East. DeRozan was someone I wasn't sure was going to make the starting lineup simply because he plays in Toronto, but I'm glad he did because he is well deserving of the spot.
Now, let's take a look at the Western Conference Starters pool:
West Captain: Stephen Curry
Once James Harden went down with his ankle injury a few weeks ago, Curry had the Western captain spot locked up. Personally, I think teammate Kevin Durant is more deserving of the spot as he has had a better all-around season than Curry, but with the fan vote being the deciding factor in who received the captain spot, it was no surprise that Curry got the nod.
West Frontcourt: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins
There's no surprise that Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis were starters. Both have had tremendous first halves to the season and both are dominating the game on both ends of the floor. The big surprise here is DeMarcus Cousins. While he has extremely solid numbers, his lack of defensive effort has been shown time and time again. I also don't like the fact that two players from a team that is barely over .500 was able to land two players in the starting lineup. I personally would have given LaMarcus Aldridge or Karl-Anthony Towns the nod over Cousins simply due to the fact that they have helped their teams to much stronger records.
West Backcourt: James Harden
The frontrunner for MVP prior to his ankle injury was a virtual lock for the starting lineup in this year's All-Star game. There's not much more to say here as Harden is having arguably a better statistical season that he had a year ago and was robbed of the MVP award. We haven't seen much of Harden recently due to that ankle injury that has sidelined him for two weeks, but hopefully he is good to go by the All-Star game as he is a huge asset to whichever team drafts him.
Well there you have it folks. Those are the two starting pools for the 2018 All-Star game in Los Angeles on February 18th. I'm excited to see how the draft shakes out and while we may not get our eyes on the draft order, I have a feeling we will be able to see a pretty clear order once the teams are announced. Look out for a post from me soon about how I would draft if I were LeBron James or Steph Curry.
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