The Whiteboard: NBA-All Star picks, Warriors collapsing and more

NBA All-Star starters won't be announced for another three weeks and it will be another week after that before the rosters are finished with the announcement of reserves. But last night we got a sneak peak with the first batch of voting results released.

Players still have some time to help or hurt their All-Star arguments but FanSided's Chris Kline and I are sharing our picks today for both conferences, both starters and reserves.

Eastern Conference All-Star picks

Chris Kline's starters:

• Trae Young
• Tyrese Haliburton
• Jayson Tatum
• Giannis Antetokounmpo 
• Joel Embiid

Chris Kline's reserves:

• Tyrese Maxey
• Damian Lillard
• Bam Adebayo
• Scottie Barnes 
• Jimmy Butler 
• Jalen Brunson
• Donovan Mitchell

Chris Kline's toughest omission: Franz Wagner

The East is loaded with high-level guards this season. Trae Young started the year in a slump, but he has quickly picked up the pace — and then some. Atlanta has underwhelmed as a whole, but Young is playing some of the most efficient basketball of his career. He continues to operate as the beating heart of that Hawks offense. His creativity and confidence pop off the screen every game. He deserves the starting nod. Haliburton is a no-brainer at this point.

We can say the same about the East frontcourt. There’s really no alternative for the starters. The bench collection gets interesting. Those four guards feel inevitable, but the frontcourt is a mess of options. Jimmy Butler has missed a few extra games, but he is undeniably impactful when healthy. The Celtics probably “deserve” two All-Stars, but Jaylen Brown hasn’t quite outperformed Scottie Barnes or my No. 1 omission, Franz Wagner. The Magic also “deserve” an All-Star, so it’s tough to leave them empty-handed. Paolo Banchero has a case, too. Huge credit to Barnes for his mega-leap in Toronto.

Ian Levy's starters:

• Tyrese Haliburton
• Tyrese Maxey
• Jayson Tatum
• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Joel Embiid

Ian Levy's reserves:

• Scottie Barnes
• Donovan Mitchell
• Kristaps Porzingis
• Jalen Brunson
• Derrick White
• Franz Wagner
• Bam Adebayo

Ian Levy's toughest omission: Jimmy Butler

Apparently, I'm a little more willing to substitute my own than Chris to substitute my own flawed judgment for conventional wisdom and objective evaluation. Compared to his list, I've left off Jimmy Butler, Trae Young and Damian Lillard, substituting Derrick White, Franz Wagner and Kristaps Porzingis.

Lillard has been terrifically productive but his numbers are down across the board and neither he nor his his teammates have figured out how to get the best out of each other. White, meanwhile, has replaced Marcus Smart as the starting point guard for the best team in the league. He's averaging 17.0 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks per game — playing phenomenal defense and within striking distance of 50/40/90 percentages.

Young, like Lillard, is putting up huge numbers but his team has a negative point differential with him on the floor and a positive one with him on the bench. He does everything for this team, as currently constructed, but this team is also pretty bad, as currently constructed and I can't shake the feeling that they'd be better off by simply removing Young and putting the same talent into a more balanced system. Porzingis, meanwhile, has been a game-changing defensive anchor for the Celtics, averaging 20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

The hardest decision for me was between Wagner and Butler. Their production is incredibly similar on paper but Wagner is played in 10 more games and for about 300 extra minutes. For me, that was the difference.

Western Conference All-Star picks

Chris Kline's starters:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Luka Doncic
• Kevin Durant
• Kawhi Leonard
• Nikola Jokic

Chris Kline's reserves:

• Stephen Curry
• De’Aaron Fox
• LeBron James
• Anthony Davis
• Domantas Sabonis
• Alperen Sengun
• Anthony Edwards

Chris Kline's toughest omission: James Harden

There won’t be much argument about the West starters, aside from perhaps a few (un)friendly Kawhi vs. LeBron debates. Both have a strong case. There’s no wrong answer. Leonard gets the nod due to team success, essentially. Kevin Durant has been unbelievable despite Phoenix’s struggles. Jokic is the best in the world. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic aren’t far behind on that front. Both are bonafide MVP candidates on contenders. Neither should come off the bench, with all due respect to Stephen Curry.

The reserves in the West are particularly tricky. James Harden has been masterful as Los Angeles’ primary playmaker during this hot stretch. Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are gods among men. Both are elite defenders. Holmgren’s efficiency and scalability on offense are absurd for a rookie, no matter how friendly the team context. Those are very difficult omissions. Also, Rudy Gobert is the DPOY frontrunner. In a less robust All-Star class, he’d be firmly in the mix.

That said, Anthony Edwards gets the honorary Wolves spot for the No. 1 seed, even if it often feels as though Minnesota’s success is rooted in the collective. Alperen Sengun has been a beast in the middle for Houston. Shaky team success aside, his all-encompassing role in that offense deserves more recognition. He is torching defenses as both a scorer and a passer. Sacramento and LA both get two All-Stars. It feels strange to award the Lakers — a sub-.500 team — two spots, but sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles. There’s no way to keep either James or Davis off based on their résumés.

Ian Levy's starters:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
• Luka Doncic
• Kawhi Leonard
• Kevin Durant
• Nikola Jokic

Ian Levy's reserves:

• Anthony Davis
• Alperen Sengun
• Stephen Curry
• Domantas Sabonis
• LeBron James
• De'Aaron Fox
• Anthony Edwards

Ian Levy's toughest omission: Chet Holmgren

My list is identical to Chris' but I'll highlight that Chet Holmgren was a lot harder for me to leave off the James Harden. He's been transformational for their defense, an exceptionally polished role player on offense and has become the second-most important player on the second-best team in the conference. It really is remarkable that as a rookie he's legitimately in the conversation for Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Star selection.

After Holmgren, I'm also probably partial to Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley before Harden but this deep into the All-Star roster you're splitting hairs.

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Two instant classics in one night

The NBA schedule had just two games on it last night and they were both remarkable.

In the first, we saw the first matchup between Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo and both stars put on a show. Giannis came away with 44 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, a block and a four-point win. But Wembanyama made an impression with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and some incredible highlights including a clutch block on Giannis, an alley-oop to himself off the backboard and a behind-the-back dunk in transition.

In the late game, the Warriors led by as many as 18 but collapsed in the fourth quarter and lost on a halfcourt buzzer-beater from Nikola Jokic, a shot for the ages. Jokic finished with 34 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds on 13-of-16 from the field. 

READ MORE:

• Giannis Antetokounmpo wowed after 1st battle vs. Victor Wembanyama by Andrew Lopez, for ESPN
• ‘You feel greatness’: Giannis uses a novel tactic to overcome ‘special’ Victor Wembanyama by Eric Nehm, for The Athletic
• The Wemby Vs. Giannis Clash Just Blew Our Minds by Michael Pina, for The Ringer
• Nikola Jokic says he knew 3 that stunned Warriors was going in by Kendra Andrew, for ESPN
• Kerr's postgame acknowledgement makes controversial decision even stranger by Peter O'Keefe, for Blue Man Hoop

Recommended Reading:

1. Lou Williams walked so Malik Monk could run: "Monk is built for this particular award. He is the NBA's most entertaining bench spark plug — a dynamic, ultra-confident scorer capable of gravity-defying displays of athleticism and torrential shot-making stretches. This award is typically reserved for the bench scoring guards who get a ton of shots up. It helps when that player is both efficient and malleable. Monk can operate with or without the ball and he is plainly one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA right now." NBA Awards Rankings: New No. 1 in Sixth Man of the Year race

2. Entropy found the Golden State Warriors: "The once glorious culture of the Warriors has disintegrated, though. But Kerr continues to coach his team as if it’s still in its heyday without holding his veterans accountable. Even aside from the Draymond Green drama, it’s taken half a season for Klay to come to terms with the fact that his prime years are behind him. Wiggins has regressed by falling back into the same bad habits that plagued him in Minnesota. CP3 operates like a security blanket for the Warriors because he’s so turnover averse, but he no longer offers the ability to get to the basket or score with volume. Should the 38-year-old Paul really be playing as often as he does and closing games?" The Golden State Warriors Are Falling Apart

3. The pick-and-roll is dead, long live the elbow: "They moved to elbow actions. From the elbow, teams can run a handoff, a pick, a post-up, an isolation. The ball-handler can see defenders coming from any angle while he waits for off-ball actions to develop and so probably won’t be forced into a turnover. Elbow operators like Nikola Jokic are simply too talented to have that many options and not score. When loads of actions chain together — say, a cross screen on the elbows for a post entry, combined with a double stagger on the weakside, followed by that cutter receiving a handoff from the post to attack the empty side of the floor — defenses can’t do much other than hope." The NBA is shifting away from pick-and-rolls, but offensive efficiency is higher than ever