NBA All-Star Game 2015: Who should be in this year’s game?
By Will Osgood
Eastern Conference Starting 5
These are the five players who should be penciled in to start for Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer on the evening of February 15 in Brooklyn.
PG John Wall, Washington Wizards
John Wall leads the NBA in assists (10 per game) for the Washington Wizards who will enter Friday’s action in second place in the Eastern Conference. Wall has paired with Bradley Beal to make up the most exciting and (possibly) productive guard duo in the Eastern Conference.
He had two games within eight days in the middle of December where he notched career highs in assists with 17 each game.
He’s also averaging a solid 17 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting from the field. Though that places him 34th overall in scoring, you have to travel pretty far back up the list to find a player as efficient.
Wall’s 21.7 PER (player efficiency rating) is better than every guard/wing player in the Eastern Conference not named LeBron James, at least among the top 50 scorers in the NBA.
SG Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
It was tempting to dismiss Dwyane Wade and assume that his productive numbers were more the product of being one of just two truly talented players in Miami.
It is true that the Heat lost some talent, or at least the best player in the NBA, this past offseason. But they also added Luol Deng, who was quite the productive NBA player prior to joining Miami.
The truth, though, is that Wade is largely carrying Erik Spoelstra’s squad. The trio of point guards Miami is employing–Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole and Shabazz Napier–have been downright awful. Of the three Chalmers has been the best, with 10.6 points per game and a 12.0 PER, which is still well below average.
Cole and Napier are both below 10.0 in PER and have combined for just 5.6 assists per game between the two of them.
That’s why Wade gets the nod here, he’s essentially had to play two positions and make up for the incompetence of his point guards. In doing so, he leads Miami in assists, 5.5, and scoring–21.8 points per game.
He’s been the main player in keeping Miami’s head above water, as they are currently in seventh place in the East despite holding an 18-24 record.
SF LeBron James, LeBron James
The tendency for many who have followed the NBA from a distance this season is to assume that LeBron James must be having an off year in his return to Cleveland. He did miss nine games recently due to injury, but has come back as dominant as ever.
For the year, he is second in the NBA in scoring at 26.0 points per game, while also pulling down 5.5 rebounds and dishing out nearly 7.5 assists per contest.
Sure the Cavs have been a bit of a disappointment this year, which was supposed to be the year Cleveland finally won a professional sports championship, but the blame cannot rightfully be placed on James.
Only four players in the league have a better PER (James Harden, Stephen Curry and the leader Anthony Davis). In other words, the King is doing his job.
PF Chris Bosh, Miami Heat
Hey look, we’ve managed to get the band back together for one more show. Wade, James and Bosh have a shot to wow us one more time in Brooklyn as All-Star teammates. This position is cemented by the fact the NBA does not require a center any longer, but is okay with fielding simply a “big man”.
In the ever-changing tapestry of the game of basketball, Bosh is the perfect in-between. He plays solid post defense, rebounds adequately (7.7 per game this year), scores–in general, 21.3 points per game and from distance, shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range.
And he doesn’t play for a team who has only won seven games this year (looking at you ‘Melo and the Knicks). That helps too.
PF Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks
The best team in the Eastern Conference has to be awarded with at least two All-Star representatives, does it not? Atlanta enters Friday’s play 35-8 and six games above second place Washington in the East.
Millsap was an All-Star for the first time in 2014, and deserves the repeat visit. He is averaging 16.8 points per game for the year, and has been remarkably consistent, averaging 17.0 in November, 16.8 in December, and 16.9 in January.
You can break up his splits any which way and you find Millsap is truly a model of consistency. He is grabbing 7.9 rebounds for the year and is shooting 34.2 percent from distance, plus 73.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Of course ‘Melo gained this spot, and numbers-wise he was deserving, again except for the whole thing that his team is garbage. Even someone who does not believe in team wins as an evaluation tool cannot overlook the Knicks’ hot garbage mess of a season in 2014-15.
The first place Hawks should have a starter in the All-Star Game. It’s only right. Millsap makes the most sense.
Next: The starters in the West