NBA Alternative All-Star Weekend 2019: The Rosters

The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is a celebration of the league’s best and brightest. Unfortunately, there isn’t room for everyone who deserves it. That’s why The Step Back is planning their Alternative All-Star Weekend.

Every NBA All-Star team comes replete with snubs. It’s just part of the process. The roster spots are finite, the list of players deserving recognition is lengthy and there is only so much that can be done with injury replacements and slots in lesser competitions like the Dunk Contest and 3-Point Contest. Arguing over who deserves respect they haven’t been given is certainly one way to spend an afternoon but, here at The Step Back, we decided it would be healthier to just give them something else instead.

That’s why we’ve created Alternative All-Star Weekend.

Admittedly, this event is all still hypothetical, so don’t anyone go booking plane tickets to Spokane just yet. But we’re putting our own spin on every event (including adding a few new ones) by selecting and celebrating participants who weren’t included in the league’s official festivities.

Our Alternative All-Star rosters, selected by myself (East) and Matt Rutkowski (West) highlight 24 other players having fantastic seasons. The East and West designations aren’t really meaningful but they sure look cool on the Alternative All-Star jerseys Elias Stein made for us.

We didn’t bother factoring in any voting results for starters or captains. Matt won a coin toss and ended up with the first pick. Here’s our draft shook out.

West: Luka Doncic (1)

I won THE Luka Doncic. I won him. There was a coin toss, and fate decided I was to be rewarded for something I’ve done or something I’ve yet to do. I don’t understand it, but I have THE Luka Doncic on my team. This is a nice feeling. Good job, me.

This wasn’t a particularly difficult choice. I felt he should have been an All-Star over a couple of Klay Thompsons and LaMarcus Aldridges that did make the team. But instead, he is here, and I am happy. I hope you’re happy for me too.

East: Pascal Siakam (2)

By not selecting Rudy Gobert here, I freely acknowledge that I’m handing you the two players with the strongest cases as actual All-Star selections. Still, I feel like Pascal Siakam is headed somewhere special and I want to get in as early as possible. At the risk of hyperbole, I think he has a 2013-14 Kawhi Leonard vibe to him. This is Siakam’s third season and that was Kawhi’s. Their numbers are very similar, although Siakam is a better passer and shakier shooter. I just feel like we’ve watched the same trajectory from “he could be a useful defender” to “whoah, he can do some stuff on offense also” to, finally, “wait, this guy is A LOT more than he appeared to be.” If the Raptors make the Finals and steamroll the Warriors, with Siakam winning Finals MVP, this Alternative All-Star selection will look incredibly prescient.

West: Rudy Gobert (3)

You’re one of those risk-taker people, and I admire that. Siakam was next on my list after Gobert, but Gobert arguably should be the first player chosen. He felt personally slighted by not being selected by the coaches. I’d hope this means he’d come out with something to prove rather than being disappointed at being in a consolation game or something. It’d be interesting seeing a defensive-first player with something to prove in a type of game that typically goes defense-free.

East: Tobias Harris (4)

I can’t decide if I should be happy or bummed that Harris was traded to the 76ers. On one hand, the collective ceiling is much higher in Philadelphia. Harris has a chance to be a key contributor on a championship contender, something that might never have happened with the Clippers. However, he’s also going to a team with fragile chemistry and in a reduced offensive role, leaving an environment that allowed him to finally blossom into an elite offensive player. Either way, he had a tremendous first half of the season and he’s earned this recognition.

West: Donovan Mitchell (5)

You stole Tobias Harris from me just like Steve Ballmer stole Blake Griffin’s future from him along with Tobias Harris too. I can’t believe you, and I can’t forgive you.

What I can do is take Donovan Mitchell. After a bad-Kobe-esque start to the season, he’s come on incredibly strong. I feel weird taking two Jazz players right in a row, but both could have made the real All-Star team and I would not have batted an eye.

Plus, he dunks real good. We need highlights if this Alternative All-Star thing is going to start bringing in sponsors. I want Bojangles. We can talk about marketing off thread.

East: DeMar DeRozan (6)

It’s been a rough few months for DeMar DeRozan. His Raptors suffered a dignity-sacrificing sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, he was then caught by surprise in a trade that separated him from best friend Kyle Lowry and sent him to the San Antonio Spurs. And, finally, another remarkable season of growth was overlooked for a well-deserved All-Star slot. DeRozan has almost entirely given up on the 3-pointers that defined his leap last season, and instead, in his tenth season, is setting career-highs in rebound percentage, assist percentage, and block percentage, along with posting a positive Defensive Real-Plus Minus. It seemed impossible early in his career but DeRozan has fought tooth and nail and made himself into an all-around player.

West: Mike Conley (7)

Mike Conley, once again, in that tier of players just below the true snubs. It seems like every year he’s healthy the question comes up of “What about Mike Conley?” before people eventually settle on “nah.”

Well, I’m saying “yah.” He’s been healthy, he’s scoring 20 a game with over 6 assists, and is maybe the closest thing the Grizzlies have had to a bright spot this season. He’s 31 this year and is extremely unlikely to hit 2016-17 levels again. Therefore, he’s unlikely to get close to an All-Star game again. Before the inevitable decline comes, I want him out there, and I want to be the one to shake his hand and tell him he’s the only Ohio State athlete I’ve ever actually liked.

East: Jusuf Nurkic (8)

This season Nurkic is averaging 15.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, shooting 50.4 percent from the field. Nothing on that list is eye-popping. You’re not going to find him leading SportsCenter highlights very often. He’s just quietly and ferociously, been one of the most effective big men in the league this season. His on-off ratings are almost as significant as Damian Lillard’s this season and he’s hit a career-high in likability. Not a bad year.

West: Buddy Hield (9)

I was in between Hield and Fox, but I already have three players who you’d maybe consider point guards. That meant Hield got the nod.

This is almost an act of apology. I had so little hope for him when he first started for the Pelicans last year. Granted he was a rookie, but after hearing Vivek saw some Steph Curry in him, I immediately wrote him off as the next Stauskas or Ben McLemore. I was very wrong.

The Kings are actually fun again. They’re on the edge of the playoffs. Hield has been half the tandem that’s led them here. I’m sorry for never thinking that this could be the case.

East: Marcus Smart (10)

You’re probably thinking, “boy, Ian really reached for Marcus Smart.” You’re wrong. His defense has been exceptional as usual and the aggression he answers every challenge with — he’s defended centers for 133 possessions this season and surrendered just nine points — has, in several low moments, seemed to be the only thinking keeping the Celtics from disintegrating. Oh, and he makes 3-pointers now — 37.1 percent on the season. Smart embodies everything that Alternative All-Star Weekend is about.

West: Devin Booker (11)

I don’t think you reached, mostly because you know far more about this stuff than I do. For example, look at what I just did.

Devin Booker is probably everything Alternative All-Star Weekend isn’t. But If I can get him as a sixth man on a team, I’m gonna do it. I don’t want to depend on him, and I don’t want to feature him, but coming in against second units seems like the perfect place for him to score another 70 points. He did that against Marcus Smart, I think.

East: De’Aaron Fox (12)

The Sacramento Kings are fun and, all due respect to Buddy Hield, De’Aaron Fox is the primary reason way. He is like a rubber band ball of quick-twitch explosion, careening from end to end, racking up steals, flinging passes and flying in for layups. Fox was flirting, hot and heavy, with draft bustdom last season but he’s pushed the Kings to the brink of the playoffs. Frankly, he should get a trophy just for that.

West: Domas Sabonis (13)

Sabonis has been real good. Sabonis also doesn’t play a lot of minutes. Minutes in All-Star games are generally quite strange, so if I can get him playing hard for about 18 minutes then he’ll be right at home.

He plays incredibly well in bursts. He’ll be on the floor for half a quarter and somehow already have twelve and five. I want exactly that in a seventh man. I’m taking this thing seriously.

East: Jrue Holiday (14)

The day after Anthony Davis’ trade demand went public, Holiday put up 19 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 6 blocks, leading the Pelicans to a five-point win over the Houston Rockets. It was a giant, metaphoric Fredo Kiss to the brother who had broken his heart. For all he has suffered through this year, for continuing to go out every night, grind out every possession on defense and be the Pelicans steadiest player on offense, Holiday deserves an All-Star slot, even if it’s on this Alternative squad.

West: Eric Bledsoe (15)

I’ve decided that Eric Bledsoe is going to be a defensive option. I’ve also decided that I’m a really good coach that will be able to get him playing his hardest. The Bojangles Alternative All-Star Game presented by FanSided is probably the exact showcase he needs in a contract year.

He might not be as disruptive as Marcus Smart, and he’s reputation might be a little overstated at this point in his career, but he’s also been running point for the best regular season team so far this year, and is doing an admirable job.

We’re at the point now where “admirable” is the cutoff. It is what it is. He’s getting the nod.

East: Brook Lopez (16)

Brook Lopez was supposed to be a nice under-the-radar value pick-up in free agency. He’s leveraged that opportunity into starting at center for the best team in the NBA, hitting the 12th-most 3-pointers in the entire league (as of this writing), already surpassing his previous career-high with nearly 30 games to go. And in the midst of all this, he has still had time to keep the NBA’s best brotherly rivalry piping hot. He’s a special player having a special season.

West: Steven Adams (17)

I think we’re nearly in Andre Drummond range, but I bet I can snag him later. There’s a longstanding debate among Fastbreak Breakfast fans about who is better between Steven Adams and Andre Drummond. It’s gone back and forth, and right now the opinion is solidly in Adams’ favor. Drummond’s season, despite a surprising amount of 20-20 games.

Steven Adams doesn’t have the flashy stats, but I agree with Rudy Gobert that defense matters a lot. Plus the quotes with the alternative media should be golden. Basically, any additional presence of Steven Adams is a benefit for everyone. Mostly for my team though.

East: Justise Winslow (18)

As a rookie, Justise Winslow reminded me a lot of Jamal Mashburn. I was laughed out of certain corners of the internet for the audacity of that comparison, but check out these per-36 minute numbers!

West: Spencer Dinwiddie (19)

I’ve loved Spencer Dinwiddie since I first read his name. It was not clear early on whether he would stick in the league, but he just steadily improved, waited for his opportunity, and eventually became the guy who takes the last shot on a fun team. Maybe D’Angelo Russell surpassed him this season, but that’s not because Dinwiddie fell off. I don’t know how deep this team is going to run, but I want him making my locker room a better place. He’s that kind of dude.

East: Josh Richardson (20)

Richardson might have been a little overmatched early in the season where he was carrying a much larger responsibility for creating offense. But since Dec. 22, when Justise Winslow essentially took over as the full-time starting point guard, Richardson is averaging 16.3 points. 4.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game, shooting 37.9 percent on 3-pointers and over 90 percent from the line. He’s a capable second-wheel, his defense continues to be terrific and I couldn’t really take Winslow without taking Richardson too.

West: Reggie Bullock (21)

When I first made this pick, Reggie Bullock was still a Piston. He was my favorite Piston. Now he is no longer a Piston.

So if I can’t have him on my favorite team, I’ll have him on my All-Star team. He’s not shooting the 45 percent from 3 like he was last year, but he was called on to do more than just spot-up shoot. Now he’s on the Lakers, and I miss him.

Oh well.

East: Danilo Gallinari (22)

The season is about two-thirds over and Gallinari has already hit the fifth-highest minutes played of his 10-year career. When he’s actually on the court and healthy you remember that he’s a savvy three-level scorer who can create for others and creates mismatches all over the court. It’s a shame his partnership with Tobias Harris was ended because there may not have been a more subtle and or fascinatingly effective offensive pairing in the league this season.

West: Zaza Pachulia (23)

I can’t believe he’s still on the board. With my final pick in the Alternative All-Star draft, I will select Detroit Pistons’ Center Andre Drummond Just Kidding Zaza Pachulia.

The Georgia fan vote can’t be held back anymore. Wave after wave hit the league year after year, and finally, the levee has broken. Congratulations, Zaza. It wasn’t what you wanted, but it’s certainly more than you deserve.

East: Caris LeVert (24)

LeVert played in just 14 games before a gruesome foot injury cost him three months. In those games, all he did was average 18.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game (in under 30 minutes). He was on his way to a special season and even though he has since been surpassed by D’Angelo Russell, I wanted LeVert to know he wasn’t forgotten.

There you have it folks, the full rosters for the Alternative All-Star Game. Congratulations to all these Alternative All-Stars!