NBA All-Star Teams - 2024

 

The full NBA All-Star teams have been announced, including injury replacements, and overall the players picked were largely deserving. I've analyzed every player's performance so far this season to determine which players should have been All-Star starters and reserves, along with which players were snubbed, and which players should have been left off to make room for them. Actual starters are in bold, reserves are underlined, and injury replacements are in italics, with an asterisk next to players who will miss the game due to injury. There are also a few updates to the all-time player rankings at the bottom:

Eastern Conference

Starters

PF - Giannis Antetokounmpo - MIL

PG - Trae Young - ATL

C - Joel Embiid - PHI*

PG - Tyrese Haliburton - IND

PF - Jayson Tatum - BOS

Reserves

PG - Jalen Brunson - NYK

PG - Damian Lillard - MIL

SG - Donovan Mitchell - CLE

PG - Tyrese Maxey - PHI

PF - Julius Randle - NYK*

PF - Paolo Banchero - ORL

PF - Pascal Siakim - NYK

Injury Replacements

SG - Scottie Barnes - TOR

PG - Cade Cunningham - DET

The East team is pretty much correct. Trae Young was by far the biggest snub originally, as he should have been starting over Lillard, but he was added as an injury replacement, so at least he made the team. Siakim would have been my choice for the final spot over Jaylen Brown, and I would have added Cunningham as an injury replacement while leaving Bam Adebayo off the team.

Western Conference

Starters

C - Nikola Jokic - DEN

PG - Luka Doncic - DAL

PG - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander - OKC

C - Domantas Sabonis - SAC

C - Anthony Davis - LAL

Reserves

PF - LeBron James - LAL

PF - Kevin Durant - PHX

C - Victor Wembanyama - SAS

PG - Stephen Curry - GSW

PG - Devin Booker - PHX

C - Alperen Sengun - HOU

SG - Anthony Edwards - MIN

Injury Replacements

PG - De'Aaron Fox - SAC

PF - Lauri Markkanen - UTA

The West team has a few more issues, including 3 big men who were snubbed, most notably Domantas Sabonis, the second-best center in the West, who should have been starting, but didn't even make the team. Wembanyama was likely left off due to being a rookie on a bad team, but he is very deserving of a spot, and Sengun is being overlooked by everyone playing for a mediocre Houston team. I would have left Kawhi Leonard, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Paul George off the team, especially George, who isn't close to being an All-Star this year.

All-Time Player Rank changes

Russell Westbrook has passed Chris Paul to move up to #18

Kawhi Leonard has passed Kevin McHale and George McGinnis to move up to #60

Joel Embiid has passed Wes Unseld to move up to #92