Klay Thompson Has Ironclad 2015 All-Star Case in Loaded Western Conference

The copious amount of talent littered across the Western Conference is going to keep some deserving players on the outside looking in at the 2015 NBA All-Star Game.

Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson should not be among that group.

The 24-year-old has made such incredible strides during his fourth season in the league that his name should be among those who represent the NBA's better half at the midseason classic. These 12 selections can often be subjective, but an objective observation points to Thompson getting the nod.

"If you look at his body of work and what he's been able to do on both ends of the floor, the argument kind of speaks for itself," Stephen Curry said, per Diamond Leung of Bay Area News Group. "I think coaches around the league understand how important he is to what we do, and just how impactful he is on both ends of the floor. That's what an All-Star is."

Thompson makes the Warriors—the NBA's best team at 33-6—better just by being on the floor. With him, Golden State has outscored its opponents by an absurd 17.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sits, the Warriors are only 5.6 points per 100 possessions ahead of the opposition.

That combination of Golden State's team success and Thompson's part in it is a key ingredient of his All-Star candidacy. The league often rewards its top clubs with multiple selections. Of the 24 players who participated in last season's event, 11 suited up alongside at least one of their teammates.

The Dubs should continue that trend, as Curry's offensive wizardry and Thompson's two-way game have both left indelible marks on this group's dominance.

Noah Graham/Getty Images

But Thompson's All-Star argument isn't tied solely to his standing as the second-best player on the NBA's top team. In fact, his most compelling case stems from his dramatic individual improvement.

And that says a lot, considering he played near an All-Star level last season (18.4 points, .444/.417/.795 slash).

There used to be some holes in his game. Prior to this season, Thompson was mostly a knock-down shooter who got after it on the defensive end. He could light the lamp with ridiculous regularity from distance (545 three-point makes on 41.0 percent shooting his first three years), but defenses could contain his production by running him off the perimeter.

That's clearly no longer the case.

With more freedom to create plays inside the arc under first-year coach Steve Kerr, Thompson has flashed an aggressive dribble-penetration game few knew he possessed. He had never spent this much time near the basket (18.5 percent of his field-goal attempts have come from within three feet) nor shown this type of accuracy on those shots (70.8 percent).

Yet he has managed to increase his involvement around the rim without sacrificing his prolific perimeter game. Despite playing fewer minutes than he has since his rookie year (32.3) and penetrating the paint more when he does, he's actually on pace to set career marks in threes per game (3.0) and long-range efficiency (44.6 percent).

His fluorescent green light and lightning-quick release demands constant defensive attention away from the basket. But there's a risk involved with staying glued to his hip. When defenders get too close, he uses his better-than-advertised first step to slip past the first line of defense and his explosive athleticism to finish those drives at the rim.

"The ability to put the ball on the floor and make plays as opposed to just being a scorer, that’s the best thing for him and [for] us as a team, Curry said, per Grantland's Jonathan Abrams. "He’s almost impossible to guard if he can do that."

Not only has Thompson's newfound attacking nature netted him a career-best 47.2 field-goal percentage, but it has also paid dividends at the foul line. Given that he's a career 83.6 percent free-throw marksman, there are plenty of rewards to reap.

He set personal bests with 147 free-throw makes and 185 attempts in 81 games during the 2013-14 campaign. Through 38 games this season, he already has 121 of the former and 140 of the latter.

Both his 14.9 assist percentage and 113 offensive rating are the highest they have ever been. Ditto for his 60.2 true shooting percentage, .224 free-throw rate and 21.4 player efficiency rating.

Those are the marks of evolution, the signs of Thompson's growth from a great shooter to a great offensive weapon.

Category	Statistic	NBA Rank
Field Goals	295	11th
Threes	115	Fourth
Three-Point Percentage	44.6	Sixth
Free-Throw Percentage	86.4	15th
Points Per Game	21.7	12th
Usage Percentage	27.1	18th
Win Shares	4.9	14th

As Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant said before the season, per Leung, Thompson possesses one of the league's most versatile skill sets:

"

Kobe Bryant on the diversity of Klay Thompson's game: "He has the whole package."

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) October 10, 2014"

"

Kobe Bryant: "Not many players can play like Klay Thompson." Then listed the ways - shoot, post up, midrange, pull up, go left, go right.

— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) October 10, 2014"

And we haven't even touched on one of Thompson's greatest strengths yet: his razor-tight defense.

At 6'7", 215 pounds, he has the ideal build for a perimeter stopper. Add quickness, tenacity and a high basketball IQ to the mix, and you're left with a defensive pest capable of handling assignments all over the floor.

Despite being matched up against some of the league's premier scorers, Thompson has held opposing 2-guards to a paltry 11.3 PER this season, via 82games.com. When he has switched over to the small forward spot, that figure has fallen to 10.5.

He plays an intrusive brand of defense, which has resulted in personal bests of 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. And despite that aggressiveness, he has averaged a career-low 1.7 fouls per game.

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

"Thompson's is at his most effective when using his length and agility to make life difficult for opposing point guards or wing players that see their involvement come in the form of pick-and-rolls or off-the-ball screens," wrote Sports On Earth's Brett Koremenos.

Thompson does a little bit of everything, so it comes as no surprise that he grades out in terms of the all-encompassing statistics that exist. His .191 win shares per 48 minutes are the NBA's 11th highest. He ranks 21st in ESPN.com's real plus-minus with a 4.26, ahead of the likes of Mike Conley (3.70), Blake Griffin (3.41), LaMarcus Aldridge (2.55) and Marc Gasol (2.20), among others.

Those are All-Star numbers, even if Thompson isn't fully convinced that they are.

"The West is tough, man," Thompson said, per Leung. "There area lot of great guards, so I'm not expecting anything."

Thompson is, however, keeping his calendar open in case his number gets called:

Pundits might say the odds are against Thompson to secure a spot. The West tabbed six backcourt players for last year's All-Star roster—only five made the final cut as injuries kept Bryant out—and not everyone may be willing to include Thompson in their top six.

All-Star starters will be announced Thursday night, but the last glance showed Curry and Bryant as near locks for the two backcourt spots. For the record, Thompson sat sixth among Western Conference guards, trailing James Harden, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard.

That doesn't mean these six will be tabbed as reserves. Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle recently gave his picks and took two names off of that list:

"

If we’re talking about the best players in the league, right now, the Western Conference should field these six backcourt players on its 12-man roster: Curry, Thompson, Harden, Damian Lillard (oh, is he deadly), Russell Westbrook and Mike Conley. That’s right, no Kobe. No Chris Paul. No Monta Ellis, who really deserves it, or Tony Parker. Tough crowd.

"

Thompson made Bleacher Report's official All-Star ballot, along with Curry, Harden, Lillard, Paul and Russell Westbrook. Unless Bryant pulls himself out of action, he's likely to chew up one of those spots.

Still, there has to be a place for Thompson somewhere on that roster.

Maybe that means keeping Paul out of the festivities. The Los Angeles Clippers' winning percentage is lower than it's been the past two seasons, and the point guard throne is no longer Paul's by default.

Maybe Westbrook misses the cut. There are worse crimes than holding out a point guard with a 43.2 field-goal percentage who has only appeared in 65 percent of his team's games.

Some players are going to get snubbed. There is too much talent for that not to happen. Even if Bryant bows out of the contest, players like Conley, Monta Ellis or Tony Parker could come up short.

It's the nature of the beast when there are more deserving players than available roster spots.

But that shouldn't keep Thompson out of the competition. Not with the type of meaningful numbers he's put up for the premier team of this season's first half.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

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