Picking All-Star Teams: How many Cavs make the cut?
Picking All-Star Teams: East Reserves
The East is a bit easier to fill out than the West; there we are leaving off All-NBA candidates, but there is absolutely plenty of talent to work through to make the final selections.
Backcourt: Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers have dipped below .500 and may be starting to fall back into the bottom-half of the Eastern Conference, but that doesn’t make their play so far less impressive. Tyrese Haliburton has been one of the league’s best point guards, averaging a league-leading 10.7 assists per game and shooting 38.5 percent from deep on 7.2 attempts per game.
Backcourt: Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young’s box-score stats are just as impressive as they usually are, with 27 points (12th in the league) and 9.9 assists per game (second in the league). The problem is that Young is shooting just 40.9 percent from the field, 28.8 percent from 3, and the Hawks are a bad team when he is on the court. For the season they are just 15-15 with a -1.1 net rating, and if they continue to slide down the standings Young might miss the All-Star Game altogether.
Frontcourt: Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
Yes, somehow Kevin Durant is not an All-Star Game starter, and yes, he will be voted as a starter in the actual selection process. Yet here the strength of the East frontcourt places Durant fourth even if he would be in the top-5 overall; given the dramatic ride of the Brooklyn Nets this season, Durant would probably take this small ignominy in exchange for the Nets’ on-court success recently. They are now 19-12 having won six-straight games and are just three games back of the No. 1 seed. Durant has been absolutely sublime and is having another all-time season.
Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are in a freefall, losers of five-straight and 2-8 in their last 10. Their half-court offense has forgotten how to shoot and they are passing injuries around like it’s the flu. Through it all Siakam has been excellent, with 24.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. He has only made one All-Star Game before (despite two All-NBA seasons) and has a good chance to make one this year.
Frontcourt: Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Don’t look now, but the Miami Heat have won four straight to claw their way above .500. Bam Adebayo has been solid, the rest of the rotation less so, but Jimmy Butler has absolutely been their best player this season. He is 16th in the NBA in EPM, is scoring his usual 21.9 points but on improved efficiency, and is pulling in 6.8 rebounds and slinging 5.9 assists. Butler should make his seventh All-Star team assuming the Heat maintain their status around .500.
Wild Card 1: Kristaps Porzingis, Washington Wizards
Selecting the East Wild Cards was a difficult task, as the field was absolutely loaded with similarly-successful candidates. The one who rose above was Kristaps Porzingis, who has been the beacon of life inside of an injured and impotent Washington Wizards roster. He is scoring 22.4 points to go along with 8.9 rebounds and joins Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid as the only players averaging a steal and 1.5 blocks per game this season.
Wild Card 2: Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
Now for the final spot. Of the top four teams in the East only one (Boston) has two All-Stars, and each team has a deserving candidate: Jrue Holiday from the Bucks, Kyrie Irving from the Nets and Darius Garland from the Cavs. The sixth-best team, the New York Knicks, doesn’t have a single All-Star on this list – Julius Randle is having an underrated season. Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero and Jarrett Allen all have something to say (Allen’s defense has been incredible) and James Harden could get onto this list as he accrues more games played.
With all of that being said, Garland gets the nod here and could easily push Trae Young to get into the backcourt reserves straight up. He’s fifth in the league in assists per game, dropping 20.8 points on plus efficiency and is the second star on the team with the second-best net rating in the league. Anything could happen, but for now he gets the final spot.
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That means the Cavs get two All-Stars, the second by a whisker. There is a slim path to having three All-Stars but most likely it will stay a fight for two. If the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors keep plummeting that will open things up for the Cavs to get more All-Stars, as will injury replacements. What’s clear is that the league has a ton of talent, and the Cavaliers are at the table with everyone else.