Cavs News: All-Star Reserve picks, Reddish trade, positivity
Last week the NBA announced the 10 All-Star Starters, which included the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell. Tonight on TNT the 14 reserves will be announced, seven from each conference. While there will very likely be at least one injury replacement announced later, for not this will be the final 24-player list of All-Stars this season.
Despite Darius Garland’s hope to make the team, we discussed earlier this week how his making the team is likely a long shot in a crowded Eastern Conference field. Who should make the teams? Here are my final picks:
Eastern Conference:
- Frontcourt – Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo, Julius Randle
- Backcourt – James Harden, Tyrese Haliburton
- Wild Cards – Jimmy Butler, Pascal Siakam
Western Conference:
- Frontcourt – Domantas Sabonis, Lauri Markkanen, Anthony Davis
- Backcourt – Ja Morant, Damian Lillard
- Wild Cards – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jaren Jackson Jr.
Injury replacement:
- East – Darius Garland, Jrue Holiday
- West – Devin Booker, Paul George
More Cavs news
The Dunc’d On Basketball Podcast is an excellent product covering the league on a comprehensive basis year-round, and every season around this time they release one of the best episodes of the year: the Mock Trade Deadline. On the website this morning we analyzed a trade that went down during that podcast: would it be worth it for the Cavs to add Cam Reddish?
After the strong start to the season, it’s easy for the Cavaliers and their fans to get stuck in the muck of negativity with the team’s recent losses. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff had a message of positivity for the team, that a big-picture view of this group is that they are one of the league’s best teams and are heading for some valuable playoff experience:
#Cavs J.B. Bickerstaff w/ a general message to the team -- and everyone else -- in the face of growing "negativity":
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) February 1, 2023
"There are seven teams in the NBA with 30 or more wins this year and we are one of them." He reminded the guys to focus on how far they've come as a young group.
NBA news
Damian Lillard scored another 42 points in leading the Portland Trail Blazers over the Memphis Grizzlies to notch a key win. Rumored trade candidate Naz Reid showed himself off last night in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ comeback overtime win over the Golden State Warriors; starting for an injured Rudy Gobert, Reid had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists. Back East, the Boston Celtics obliterated the Brooklyn Nets by 43 points in a game that wasn’t even that close.
Cavaliers Trade Deadline: A primer on everything you need to know. dark. Next
Coming up: The Cavaliers will host the Memphis Grizzlies tonight on TNT