Cavs: Does Evan Mobley make the way-too-early All-Star Team?

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Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images /

Cavs: Which players were left off the early All-Star Roster?

Some of the players on our projected All-Star roster are likely locks, but a number of those slots are up for grabs in an Eastern Conference without as many established stars as the West. Who is in the mix to push onto the list after strong early-season play?

Guards

Malcolm Brogdon has likely been Indiana’s best player thus far, but he has missed a couple of games due to injury and the Pacers are struggling with a number of close losses to start the season. Tyler Herro is having the season everyone thought he would have a year ago, averaging 22.4 points per game and hitting 40.8 percent of his 3-pointers.

Speaking of 3-pointers, Seth Curry has hit 54.1 percent of his 3-pointers for a whopping 74.6 percent effective field goal percentage, best in the league. Spencer Dinwiddie has bounced back from his ACL injury to be a solid supporting actor to Bradley Beal in Washington.

Bigs

Domantas Sabonis is perennially in the All-Star mix due to his scoring volume, but to his credit he has increased his 3-point volume to help this team space the court while continuing to be hyper-efficient inside. Jarrett Allen is third in the league in effective field goal percentage as one of the league’s best finishers thus far. Montrezl Harrell is back to his prolific scoring as a 6th man. John Collins has continued to grow as an all-around player, lowering his usage but improving as a passer and defender.

Forwards

Jaylen Brown has been red-hot scoring the basketball and was the “13th” All-Star, the first not to make the cut, the best candidate on a reeling Boston team. OG Anunoby has taken the leap we all were projecting, currently averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers. Finally, we made the case for Evan Mobley above as one of the East’s best defenders.

There are of course other players having slow starts to the year who could make a push, from Jayson Tatum and James Harden to Collin Sexton and Jerami Grant. It’s going to be a tough fight for the 12 slots that are available.