NBA All-Star Team Draft Predictions
Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are the captains of their teams for the All-Star Game this year. They will pick their teams on a televised draft on TNT on Feb. 7. We give you a pick-by-pick analysis of who each should take for their team.
There are two rounds in the draft. The first round is picking the remaining eight starters, where James will have the first pick. The second round is picking from the 14 reserves, where Antetokounmpo will have the first pick.
First Round
1. James Harden (Team LeBron)
Harden is clearly the best player in this round, putting up a staggering 36.3 points and 8.2 assists per game this season. James would really have to like someone else to pass up taking Harden first.
2. Steph Curry (Team Giannis)
Curry is having his best season since the Durant-Warriors era started with 29.3 points and 5.4 assists per game. He’s also hitting a career high 5.2 3-pointers per game. Antetokounmpo should definitely take him second.
3. Kevin Durant (Team LeBron)
Durant is playing some of the best basketball of his career, and it is well noted that he is friends with James. He’ll be taken third in the draft because he’s playing so well, and because James seems to like him a lot.
4. Joel Embiid (Team Giannis)
Antetokounmpo is taking Embiid here for the sole purpose of uniting him with Russell Westbrook in the All-Star game this year. Westbrook and Embiid had a words battle in a game earlier this season, and Antetokounmpo said he wanted to pick them both so they could make up during All-Star Weekend.
5. Kyrie Irving (Team LeBron)
Irving is taken here over Kawhi Leonard because James already has himself and Durant on his team as small-forwards and James is still friends with Irving. James needs a point guard so he’ll take Irving over Walker for sure.
6. Kawhi Leonard (Team Giannis)
Antetokounmpo picks up Leonard because he is easily the best of the remaining three players in the first round. Leonard has picked up right where he left the Spurs and is still an MVP caliber player.
7. Paul George (Team LeBron)
James picks George with his last pick of the first round because he already has a point guard and George is simply a better player than Kemba Walker.
8. Kemba Walker (Team Giannis)
Antetokounmpo takes Walker with his final pick of the first round to round out his team.
Second Round
- Russell Westbrook (Team Giannis)
- Anthony Davis (Team LeBron)
- Nikola Jokic (Team Giannis)
- Damian Lillard (Team LeBron)
- Klay Thompson (Team Giannis)
- Blake Griffin (Team LeBron)
- Bradley Beal (Team Giannis)
- LaMarcus Aldridge (Team LeBron)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Team Giannis)
- Ben Simmons (Team LeBron)
- Khris Middleton (Team Giannis)
- Kyle Lowry (Team LeBron)
- D’Angelo Russell (Team Giannis)
- Nikola Vucevic (Team LeBron)
Special Roster Draft
- Dwyane Wade (Team LeBron)
- Dirk Nowitzki (Team Giannis)
Team James
Kyrie Irving *
James Harden *
Paul George *
Kevin Durant *
LeBron James *
Anthony Davis
Damian Lillard
Blake Griffin
LaMarcus Aldridge
Ben Simmons
Kyle Lowry
Nikola Vucevic
Dwyane Wade
Team Giannis
Kemba Walker *
Steph Curry *
Kawhi Leonard *
Giannis Antetokounmpo *
Joel Embiid *
Russell Westbrook
Nikola Jokic
Klay Thompson
Karl-Anthony Towns
Bradley Beal
D’Angelo Russell
Khris Middleton
Dirk Nowitzki
( * is for starters)
Who will win?
Both teams are matched up fairly evenly with starters and reserves, as you would hope after having a draft for the teams. I assume that the game will come down to the wire with Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki both playing crunch-time minutes and taking shots to win. I trust Wade more in this scenario, so Team LeBron will come out of the game with the victory.