NBA All-Star Game 2015: Who should be in this year’s game?
By Will Osgood
Eastern Conference Bench
These players are deserving of coming off the bench for Mike Budenholzer.
F Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
Anthony of course gained the starting nod, as announced on Thursday evening. And we’ve had enough fun already with the hot mess that the Knicks currently are. Let’s instead spend a few seconds to praise Anthony.
He’s fifth in the league in scoring, though he’s taken the second most shot attempts per game to make that happen. ‘Melo is shooting an okay 33 percent from deep and right around 80 percent from the charity stripe. He gets there six times a game, which is solid.
In fairness, Anthony is the only player of any real value on the Knicks’ roster. So he deserves a bit of slack.
G Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors
I was so close to including Kyle Lowry on the list of starters, that I had actually typed out his name before considering that Wade is basically playing two positions for Miami. Lowry, though, has been fantastic for the Raptors.
The eighth year guard from Villanova is 18th in scoring at 19.8 a game. And despite measuring in at just 6’0″, he is grabbing right around five boards a game, while dishing out 7.5 assists.
He is the MVP of a Raptors squad which came out of the gate guns ablazin’ in 2014-15.
G Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
If Miami can get two All-Star starters, certainly the disappointing fifth place Cavs can get two total All-Stars. After spending the summer with Coach K and Team USA, Irving has shown improvement playing alongside LeBron and Kevin Love.
Irving is the 14th leading scorer, averaging 21.0 a game on just a hair less than 38 percent shooting from deep and 84 percent shooting from the foul line. He gets there less than five times a game, making that an area he can obviously improve.
The 2014 All-Star MVP is certainly deserving of an opportunity to defend that crown.
G/F Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
Jimmy Butler is probably the front-runner for the 2014-15 NBA Most Improved Player. The only thing is that it almost feels dirty and tainted to give the award to a player who is also a top-10 MVP candidate.
Butler has been that good this year, leading the Bulls through the rocky terrain of on-again, off-again with Derrick Rose. In fact, it seems safe to say the Bulls have actually been better when Butler is the one leading the charge.
Butler is averaging 20.6 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field overall. Known as a defensive wizard, Butler’s greater contributions in ’14-15 have come on offense where he has earned 5.2 win shares through the first half of the year.
It’s hard to imagine where the Bulls would be this year without their improved swingman.
PF Pau Gasol, Chicago Bulls
That said, Pau Gasol has been outstanding in 2014-15, and well deserving of the starting nod he learned of on Thursday night. Pau trails brother Marc in scoring but he’s outrebounding him by almost three boards a game (Pau has 11.2 per to Marc’s 8.3).
Pau’s PER is 1.2 points higher than his brother as well. That’s in part because of the rebounding, but also because Pau is averaging 2.1 blocks per game defensively.
G Jeff Teague, Atlanta Hawks
It’s almost as if there was a two-player minimum for most of the high profile Eastern Conference teams. Wait, calling the Hawks high profile? Yeah, it hasn’t happened in like 20 years, but they are.
Teague would be deserving of a reserve role regardless of the Hawks’ record though. Their success only amplifies the necessity of placing him on the team. Teague is just the 32nd leading scorer in the league, but his efficiency statistics are up there with the other point guards who made the team.
He is shooting about 34 percent from deep, 86.7 from the foul line, while getting there slightly more often than Irving, and dishing out approximately 7.5 assists on a Hawks team which took the Spurs’ 2014 championship road map and have followed it to a “t” to become the team to beat in the east.
C Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
The East team needed another post player and the best available was Greg Monroe, who is becoming a true star big man under Stan Van Gundy. Though he only averages 15 points per game, it’s because he’s playing fewer than 30 minutes a contest.
Looking at Monroe’s per 36 minutes stats, he’s averaging over 18 a contest. Doing so is fair since most of the players in All-Star contention play that many minutes a game. Going further, he averages 12 boards per-36 and gets to the line almost six times, shooting a wonderful 77.6 percent.
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