All-Star reserves announced
This week, we officially know who will be playing in the All-Star game in Utah this year. Like any other year there were some surprises and some obvious selections. Starting In the east, we saw Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Julius Randle, Jrue Holiday, Demar Derozan, and Tyrese Haliburton selected as reserves. For the west reserves, we saw Ja Morant, Lauri Markkanen, Domantas Sabonis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paul George, Jaren Jackson jr., and Damian Lillard selected. The obvious picks were of course superstars like Embiid, Lillard, and Morant who arguably could've been considered starters given their immense talent. The ones I considered surprises were Jackson, Derozan and Holiday since I had other players like Anthony Davis, Pascal Siakam and Trae Young being selected over them. However, with the recent injury to Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving being moved to the Mavericks there could be some shake up amongst the All-Star teams.
Who were the most surprising All-Star snubs
The NBA is as talented as ever so there will always be players that have All-star caliber talent but left off the list for various reasons. However, this year there are some players in particular I was shocked to not see them selected given the season they have had and how well they have led their teams to success. In my opinion, the most egregious snub was De'Aaron Fox who I felt was an easy choice given the success he has brough to the Kings this season. Fox is averaging 24.3 points and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 50.6% from the field. He has done this while leading the Sacramento Kings to the 3rd seed in the west and is on the verge of officially breaking a 16 year playoff drought.
A couple other major snubs were Pascal Siakam, James Harden and Anthony Edwards. Siakam and Edwards are both having very underrated seasons and deserve much more attention. Harden's game has changed from the dominant scorer he was in Houston to being an effective facilitating point guard who can still be a great secondary scoring option. Siakam is currently averaging 24.8 points, 8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game while Edwards is averaging 24.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. I felt Siakam's season is underappreciated due to the Raptors struggles this season. Edwards deserves more credit since he has been able to keep the Timberwolves in playoff contention despite missing their All-Star big man in Karl Anthony-Towns. Harden is averaging a double-double of 21.3 points and 10.9 assists per game while being a big piece on a champion caliber team in the 76ers. Harden's snub possibly came down to the number of games missed as his stats still stack up well against the other guards in the east.
Likely trade targets as the trade deadline approaches
With the trade deadline fast approaching there are several moves that are possibly on the horizon with many buyers and sellers at play. Teams like the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors who have had disappointing seasons will likely be involved in talks right up to the Feb 9th deadline. Players such as Fred VanVleet, Og Anunoby, and Zach Lavine have been involved with talks from multiple teams such as the Lakers and Clippers.
With the recent trade of Kyrie to Dallas even more teams will look to make moves to acquire more talent with their superstars. Brooklyn is reportedly planning to build around Kevin Durant to try to remain a contender despite the loss of Irving. Another team who was also involved in the short lived Kyrie sweepstakes is the Los Angeles Lakers who look to make more moves to build a contender around Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Necessary trade pieces for the Lakers will likely most likely be Russell Westbrook and their 2 trade pieces to acquire a star. Championship contending teams like the Grizzlies and Clippers are likely to pursue all in moves to give themselves the best chance to achieve their title hopes. Both teams have several high value role players such as Terance Mann from the Clippers and Brandon Clarke of the Grizzlies. As the drama filled final days of the trade deadline approaches in the NBA the best any fan can do is to be prepared for all the possibilities
Game of the week- Giannis has yet another 50+ point game and leads the Bucks to an epic comeback as they edge past Kawhi and the Clippers, 106-105
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