NBA All-Star Game Reserves – who deserves to be named?

The NBA released the All-Star Game starters and will announce reserves this Thursday on TNT. We go over who the reserves should be for each conference.

WEST

Locks to make the Western Conference roster this year are Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard Russell Westbrook and Rudy Gobert.

Jokic is putting up 20.1 points, 10.4 rebounds and 7.7 assists on the season and has led Denver to the second-best record in the West.

Anthony Davis is third in the league in points per game with 29.3 and fourth in rebounds per game with 13.3. Davis just requested a trade because he wants to compete for championships, which is not something New Orleans is currently providing.

Damian Lillard is putting up 26.2 points and 6.2 assists so far this season. He’s led Portland to the fourth-best record in the West.

Russell Westbrook is putting up another triple double with 21.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game this season. Westbrook should join teammate Paul George in the All-Star game for the duo’s second consecutive season in the game together.

This leaves two more spots for Klay Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell.

Booker and Mitchell are both right on the cusp of All-Star level, but in a stacked Western Conference, they don’t make it this season.

Aldridge is having the best season and team success of the remaining players, so we’ll put him in. This leaves one spot for Thompson, DeRozan and Towns.

All three have been All-Stars before, but ultimately, Thompson will make the cut due to team success and the fact that he isn’t having a down year. Towns and DeRozan are both averaging less points per game and their teams aren’t performing as well this season as they did last season.

EAST

Shoe-ins for the reserves in the East include Blake Griffin, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic and Ben Simmons.

Blake Griffin is putting up a career high 26.4 points per game while adding 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists.

Bradley Beal is averaging 24.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and five assists per game while improving the Wizards record in the absence of John Wall.

Victor Oladipo should be named as a reserve, even while being ruled out for the season, for leading the Pacers to a top-four seed in the East. Oladipo averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this season.

Nikola Vucevic is having the best season of his career for the Magic, putting up 20.6 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Ben Simmons makes the game because of the way he helps his team win games. Simmons is averaging 16.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game so far this year.

There are three remaining spots for the East reserves, one extra than the West because of Victor Oladipo’s injury. The players to pick from include Kyle Lowry, D’Angelo Russell, Khris Middleton, Andre Drummond and Pascal Siakam.

Siakam and Drummond are both having solid seasons, but neither will make the roster. Siakam still isn’t better than Lowry and the Raptors aren’t good enough to have a third All-Star. Drummond isn’t having as good of a season as Griffin is and the Pistons stink enough to not deserve two All-Stars.

With those two out, that puts Lowry, Russell and Middleton in.

Lowry is putting up only 14.2 points per game but is second in the league in assists with 9.4 per game while helping the Raptors to the second-best record in the East.

Russell is having the best season of his career while helping the Nets to the sixth-best record in the East. He is averaging 19.2 points and 6.4 assists per game this season.

Middleton is the second-best player on the Bucks, who have the best record in the NBA. He is putting up 17.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game this season.

West and Starters

Steph Curry *

James Harden *

LeBron James **

Kevin Durant *

Paul George *

Nikola Jokic

Damian Lillard

Anthony Davis

Rudy Gobert

Russell Westbrook

LaMarcus Aldridge

Klay Thompson

East and Starters

Kyrie Irving *

Kemba Walker *

Kawhi Leonard *

Giannis Antetokounmpo **

Joel Embiid *

Blake Griffin

Bradley Beal

Victor Oladipo ***

Nikola Vucevic

Ben Simmons

D’Angelo Russell

Kyle Lowry

Khris Middleton

( * is for starters, ** is for team captains, *** is injured player)