Updated 2023 NBA All-Star Starter and Reserve Picks
Fan voting for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City wraps on Jan. 21, and we'll get the initial rosters once player and media ballots are counted on Jan. 26. That means we're getting these updated (and final) All-Star roster predictions in just under the wire.
When last we forecasted, a handful of superstars were on the shelf without clear return timelines, which made it tricky to guess how much playing time they'd accumulate before voting closed. We have some clarity on those issues now—Stephen Curry has been back for a while, for example—but that hasn't alleviated the difficulty of weighing one player's high volume of good numbers against another's relatively lower volume of great ones.
And then there's the whole "importance to the team" factor to consider, plus the added acknowledgement that the All-Star Game is roughly 50 percent a popularity contest.
While this game is an exhibition, merit matters. That's particularly true for players whose contract bonuses and Hall of Fame resumes are affected by All-Star berths.
In wrestling with all those concerns, we've arrived at a set of predictions that ultimately skew closer to who should make the East and West rosters than who will.
East Frontcourt Starters
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Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid is all the way up to second in Dunks and Threes' Estimated Plus/Minus and fourth in FiveThirtyEight's RAPTOR, putting him above every other candidate for a starting frontcourt spot in the East. Embiid was fifth in both metrics the last time we made All-Star predictions, so he had to settle for a reserve spot.
The key difference now is that he's made up ground in the playing time department. Although he's logged fewer minutes than anyone seriously considered for one of these three frontcourt slots, he's missed only three games since Nov. 27. That still puts him well behind Jayson Tatum in total minutes, whom Embiid displaces here, but the gap is narrower percentage-wise than it was several weeks ago.
Embiid is averaging 33.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 blocks with a 64.4 true shooting percentage, a stat line never before produced in NBA history. With Embiid, it's never about quality. And now that the difference in quantity between him and the other options is no longer so significant, there's no way to deny him a spot here.
Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
An MCL sprain has a reasonable chance of keeping Kevin Durant off the floor through the All-Star break, so it's a good thing he'd already sewn up his case to start.
Thirty-nine games out of a possible 40 prior to his injury and 1,403 minutes are more than enough of a sample to say KD is an All-Star starter, even if multiple other candidates currently trailing him in both categories—Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler and Pascal Siakam, to name a few—should surpass those numbers over the next few weeks.
Durant was the driving force in the Brooklyn Nets' season-saving 18-2 stretch from Nov. 27 to Jan. 8. His per-game averages of 30.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists with a 58.9/42.7/95.9 shooting split that would look too good to be true if they were attached to any other player. He was also vital to the Nets' survival on defense, providing desperately needed shot-blocking and length to support Nic Claxton inside.
Don't let the scoring numbers and mid-range mastery obscure the fact that Durant has been defending with a level of effort and impact that could earn him All-Defensive Team votes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Jayson Tatum is conspicuous in his absence here, and supporters of the Boston Celtics' superstar forward are well within their rights to gripe about him losing the starting spot he once held. With that said, Antetokounmpo holds advantages over Tatum in rebounds and assists per game despite playing three fewer minutes per contest. Nobody in the NBA is hauling in more defensive boards on a per-game basis than Antetokounmpo, and while Tatum is a consistent plus on D, Giannis remains a Grade-A game-wrecker on that end.
While Antetokounmpo trails Tatum in EPM and RAPTOR, he has substantial leads in player efficiency rating and box plus/minus. If it takes niche statistical nuggets to break the tie, consider that nobody has ever averaged at least 30 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a season...but Giannis could cool off and still become the first with the pace he's currently on.
In a case this close, you have to resort to some decidedly unquantifiable factors to make distinctions. Giannis' incessant effort and almost maniacally relentless competitive edge distinguishes him from Tatum, who can explode for 50-point nights but also occasionally goes dormant for a quarter or two at a time.
East Guard Starters
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Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Donovan Mitchell was already in possession of this slot in our first round of predictions. But his 71-point eruption against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 2 might as well have put his starting spot in vice grips, locked it in a 10-ton cast-iron safe and sunk it in the bottom of Lake Erie.
Trae Young isn't a serious consideration for this position, but just for the sake of comparison, consider this: Young is the only other East guard with a usage rate north of 30.0 percent (an unofficial cutoff denoting extreme offensive responsibility). Mitchell's 62.3 true shooting percentage absolutely blows Young's 56.7 percent figure away.
Mitchell is averaging 28.4 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds and continues to deserve fringe MVP consideration in a career season.
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
Thankfully, Tyrese Haliburton avoided a major injury after an awkward fall against the New York Knicks on Jan. 11. Also thankfully, his durability to that point in the season means there's no real threat of playing-time concerns costing him a starting spot in the East. He missed only two of the Pacers' first 42 games.
Haliburton is currently averaging 20.2 points and 10.2 assists, which would be a rare enough feat in league history on its own. However, no player has ever averaged 20 points and 10 assists while hitting at least 39 percent of their treys, which Haliburton is doing this year.
We also can't ignore the way Haliburton's pace-pushing, unselfish game has transformed the Pacers. It's hard to quantify the impact his savant-like court vision and next-level anticipation have on his teammates, but Indiana's No. 2-ranked transition offense through Jan. 11 is a strong indicator.
East Frontcourt Reserves
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Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
It speaks to the stupefying depth of the East frontcourt that Tatum winds up here. He's averaging 31.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while setting new career highs in true shooting percentage and usage rate on the team with the best record in the league, yet he couldn't even crack the East's starting lineup.
It'll probably only take a week after the All-Star Game for everyone to forget who started and who came off the bench. Besides, Durant will likely sit out to continue recovering from his MCL sprain, which would put Tatum on the floor for the opening tip after all. So it's not like this is some great affront that will be remembered forever.
But when you scan Tatum's numbers and note that he's the biggest reason why the Celtics sit atop the East, it feels like apologies are in order. So, to Tatum and the millions of fans who voted for him: Sorry!
Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler missed a dozen games before Christmas, but he's up over 1,000 minutes on the season and has sat out only two contests since the holidays. His scarcity of playing time is the best argument against his inclusion here, but it isn't as compelling as it was the last time we made predictions, and he made the team then anyway.
Although he isn't a three-point threat until it's do-or-die time in the playoffs, Butler is on pace to shoot over 50 percent from the field for the first time in his career. At 33, Butler has mastered the art of playing the game on his terms. Defenses can't ignore him on the perimeter since he'll use that space to cut, duck into the post or dribble into a range where he's more dangerous. An ace foul-drawer who has literally won games with his pump-fake acumen, Butler also remains one of the most complete defensive wings around.
Butler's per-game averages of 22.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.0 steals are unmatched this season.
Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors have been a confounding disappointment, muddling around the lower reaches of the play-in tier in the East and grinding their gears in a stilted and stagnant half-court offense. However, Pascal Siakam bears no blame for any of that.
Already a two-time All-NBA selection, the 28-year-old is on the way to earning a third such nod. He's setting new career highs in scoring (25.5 points per game), assists (6.4) and box plus/minus (4.2). Though most advanced metrics aren't fans of Siakam's defense this season, it's difficult to square those numbers with plays like this and this.
Siakam's length, mobility and commitment to defense separate him from other All-Star candidates like Julius Randle and DeMar DeRozan.
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East Guard Reserves
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Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
At 26 years old and in the midst of a career season, Jaylen Brown still hasn't put it all together. That's a frightening thought for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Brown is posting career highs in points (27.2 points per game), rebounds (7.1) and true shooting percentage (59.5 percent), all without the benefit of a reliable three-point shot. After canning at least 35.8 percent of his treys in each of the past three seasons, Brown, a career 36.7 percent shooter from long range, is all the way down to a career-low 32.9 percent this year.
Thanks to personal bests in two-point percentage and free-throw shooting, it hasn't mattered. This is still Brown's most efficient scoring season ever.
Improvements in ball-handling and mastery of the mid-range have made the Boston Celtics' No. 2 option a complete two-way threat. Brown has played only 38 percent of his minutes in the backcourt, but that's enough to squeeze him in so we can use the frontcourt spots on some other deserving candidates.
Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee Bucks
You might think Jrue Holiday, the Milwaukee Bucks' starting point guard, bears some responsibility for the team's 24th-ranked offense. After all, players at his position typically have an outsized impact on scoring efficiency, turnover rate and just about everything else that determine's an attack's success or failure.
You'd be wrong. The Bucks' offensive rating climbs by 10.6 points per 100 possessions with Holiday on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass.
Use NBA.com's on-off split data for some context, and you see Milwaukee scores at a top-five clip with Holiday in the game but crumbles with him on the bench, posting an offensive rating nearly five points below that of the league's worst offense. By that measure, he means more to the Bucks on offense than Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Throw in backcourt defense that remains unmatched, per-game averages of 19.4 points and 7.4 assists on a 46.7/38.8/86.9 shooting split and the second-highest positive on-off net rating swing of any guard in the entire league with at least 900 minutes of court time, and Holiday's All-Star case is rock solid.
East Wild Cards
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Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
We've tried to stay away from recency bias, but Jalen Brunson's East Player of the Week win for Week 13 is worth considering. He averaged 34.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists while guiding the New York Knicks to a 3-1 mark from Jan. 9 to Jan. 15.
By scoring over 30 points three times in that stretch, including a career-high 44 against the Bucks on Jan. 9, Brunson ran his total of 30-point efforts this season to 10. He had only ever cracked 30 points three times in the previous four years of his career.
Brunson's teammate, Julius Randle, has an All-Star case as well. But while Randle's defense has been better over the last few weeks, we aren't far removed from long stretches in which he seemed to make damaging decisions on every possession.
More broadly, Brunson's importance to the Knicks offense is greater than that of any other player on the team. He keeps things organized, pulls in help defenders with his feinting, off-time drives and bails out go-nowhere possessions with his pivot game in the mid-post. He's also been among the league's most reliable clutch scorers, shooting 52.4 percent in close-and-late situations. DeMar DeRozan and De'Aaron Fox are the only guys in the league with more total clutch points.
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Nic Claxton would like to be heard from on the matter, but Bam Adebayo is arguably the league's best switch defender among centers. His mobility and instincts have been blowing up pick-and-roll sets for years.
To that highly impactful base, we must now add Adebayo's career-high 21.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 54.0 percent shooting from the field. It isn't cherry-picking stats and skill sets to say Adebayo is the only reliable 20-10 threat who can also guard every position on the floor. In fact, he's the only guy this season with those point and rebound averages who also has at least 30 blocks and 40 steals.
In light of the numbers that show Adebayo's impact in such a wide variety of areas, it should come as no surprise that his plus-10.4 on-off net rating swing is nearly twice that of any other Miami Heat teammate and sixth-best overall among players who've logged at least 1,400 minutes.
East Snubs
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Julius Randle, New York Knicks
Randle's best work this season hasbeen All-Star worthy, but he didn't appear committed enough on defense or willing enough to move the ball on offense until early December. He was often an actively negative influence during those first several weeks, as evidenced by the fact New York got outscored during his minutes across October and November. His 55 assists to 49 turnovers in November were another troubling sign.
At 24.2 points on a true shooting percentage hovering right around the league average, Randle is scoring with passable efficiency and staying engaged on D more often. He was the toughest cut in the conference.
Kristaps Porzingis, Washington Wizards
It may surprise some people to see Kristaps Porzingis listed ahead of the "also considered" contingent, but he's in the midst of a career season that is going widely unnoticed due to the Washington Wizards' struggles.
Porzingis ranks ahead of predicted All-Stars Pascal Siakam and Jaylen Brown in EPM. RAPTOR likes him even more, slotting him above those two, plus Jimmy Butler, Jalen Brunson and Bam Adebayo. Catch-all metrics aren't everything, but that's compelling stuff.
Ultimately, KP falls short because he's still so exploitable in space on defense and is mostly a dependent scorer who hits 60.9 percent of his two-point field goals and 93.5 percent of his threes off of teammate assists.
Also considered: DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Darius Garland, Nic Claxton, Trae Young, Brook Lopez
West Frontcourt Starters
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Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Players who win MVP awards (yes, plural) are supposed to have peaked. It's tough to outplay a field composed of the world's best and most dedicated athletes, let alone do it twice. The stars have to align. Shots have to fall at unsustainable rates. Luck is often a factor.
And yet, Nikola Jokić is coming off back-to-back MVP campaigns and is still improving.
The leader in any all-in-one metric you prefer to use (RAPTOR, EPM, BPM, VORP) is logging more assists per game (9.9) than ever before while setting new personal bests in true shooting percentage and win shares per 48 minutes. (Mark him down for the league lead in that one, too.)
On pace to lead the NBA in player efficiency rating, box plus/minus and fewest effs given after game-winners for the third consecutive season, there is no rational argument against Jokić starting the All-Star Game.
Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
This spot belonged to Anthony Davis last time out, but while AD has been sidelined since our first set of rankings, Domantas Sabonis has been carrying the Sacramento Kings. By the time the All-Star Game rolls around, it's possible Sabonis will have logged twice as many games and minutes as Davis. That difference is too significant to ignore.
And it's not like Sabonis is piling up empty-calorie counting stats for a losing team. He's been efficient, productive and hugely impactful on winning for a Kings team that entered Thursday sitting third in the West.
Sabonis is averaging 18.9 points, a league-leading 12.6 rebounds and a career-high 7.1 assists while shooting 61.0 percent from the field. He remains the hub of Sacramento's top-three offense and has played well enough on defense to produce a startling on-off split. The Kings are 14.0 points per 100 possessions better with Sabonis on the floor, the fifth-highest figure in the league among players with at least 1,000 minutes.
Finally, any ties for a starting position should be broken in favor of the guy suiting up while in pain. Sabonis has done all of this while playing through an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb.
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
We're obligated to note that LeBron James may be partially responsible for a threadbare and unbalanced Los Angeles Lakers roster that requires him to perform a heavier lift than should ever be asked of a 38-year-old. But he's executing that lift with remarkable consistency all the same, which counts for something.
James is averaging 29.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.0 assists while hitting 50.9 percent of his shots from the field. No, he's not the spring-loaded athlete he once was. And no, he doesn't bring his full focus and energy on every defensive possession anymore. But it's also unfair to ask that of a guy who's often playing point guard and center at the same time, manning those spots in a spacing-starved offense that also lacks size.
To anyone who might accuse James of selfishly hunting the all-time scoring title in another lost Lakers season, understand he isn't out there chucking. James reeled off a streak of 13 straight games from Dec. 11 to Jan. 7 in which he scored at least 25 points and made over half of his shots from the field. That's tied for the longest such run in 40 years.
West Guard Starters
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Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks
With the possible exception of the East frontcourt starters, no positional group is as laden with quality as the West guards. However, it would take a full-on cataclysmic event to keep Luka Dončić out of this spot.
His first act after our last set of All-Star predictions dropped was to rack up a record-setting 60-point, 21-rebound, 10-assist triple-double on Dec. 27. He also invented an entirely new celebratory technique. Such innovation! What can't this guy do?
Since that historic 60-pointer, Dončić has racked up three 30-point more triple-doubles, retained his league lead in scoring (he's at 33.7 points per game, which would tie for the fourth-highest figure this century) and continued to make his case as both the NBA's MVP and Most Improved Player.
Nuanced analysis about Dončić's unmatched ability to manipulate everything on the floor isn't even necessary, but it's out there if you want your mind blown. On their own, the stats tell the tale of how he's learned to bend reality through his basketball genius. The ridiculous all-in-one rankings—No. 3 in EPM, No. 2 in RAPTOR and box plus/minus—show Dončić sits above the crowded fray at this position.
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Incomparable efficiency and substantial leads in catch-all metrics over the remaining non-Dončić candidates for this spot give Stephen Curry enough of an edge to overcome a relative lack of playing time.
Among guards in either conference attempting at least 19 shots per game, his 65.7 true shooting percentage is the best by a comfortable margin. Curry also tops the other considerations here (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ja Morant, Devin Booker and Damian Lillard) in RAPTOR and EPM, and his 7.7 offensive box plus/minus is the only one in the group within spitting distance of Dončić's league-leading 8.1.
The last pieces of the puzzle come from lineup and on-off data. Though the Golden State Warriors were a disappointment during the first half of the season, Steph wasn't the problem. He's the main reason why Golden State has the league's top high-usage five-man unit. When he shares the floor with Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, the Warriors' net rating is an obscene plus-19.4.
Curry improves Golden State's net rating when on the floor by 13.1 points per 100 possessions, trailing only Dončić for the largest swing of any guard in consideration for a West All-Star spot.
West Frontcourt Reserves
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Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz
Let's start with the only player in this section who doesn't need any statistical massaging or a "look the other way" stance on injuries. Lauri Markkanen has missed only five of the Jazz's 48 games this season, which means he's gone out and been their best player 43 times.
Although Markkanen hasn't led Utah in scoring every night, he's been its most important piece. Whether darting around off the ball and dusting the bigs who try to stick with him or bullying guards and wings down low, his scaleable and varied attack has turned him into a problem that defenses of all sizes and shapes have failed to solve.
Markkanen is burying 43.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes and is scoring in isolation at a clip that ranks in the 97th percentile leaguewide. Lose sight of him for a second, which almost never happens now that he's the clear No. 1 on every opposing scouting report, and he'll cut at the exact right moment.
At 24.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on a 52.0/42.2/87.3 shooting split, Markkanen is a pick-your-poison star who delivers lethal doses of damage from everywhere.
Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
A no-questions-asked starter last time, Zion Williamson's hamstring injury knocks him into the reserve class. He's played four more games than Davis, who was also a starter in our first run-through of predictions, but he falls a long way short of the Lakers big man in most catch-all rankings.
For example, Davis is third in RAPTOR and 15th in FiveThirtyEight's WAR, while Zion is way down at 35th and 48th, respectively. Davis is fourth in EPM, while Williamson barely cracks the top 20.
Maybe Williamson's high-impact style and 26.0 points per game on 60.8 percent shooting are all you need to buy his All-Star case. That's a reasonable position to occupy, even in what's already another injury-hampered season.
The New Orleans Pelicans are winning for lots of reasons—depth, defense, excellent work on the glass—but Williamson's dominance when healthy was among the biggest. No Pelicans player with as many minutes as Zion has a more positive on-off net rating swing.
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
It's a good thing that some of the other options for this last reserve spot have played even less than Davis, who's been stuck at 25 games and 836 minutes since a stress injury in his foot knocked him out of action on Dec. 16. Kawhi Leonard and Jaren Jackson Jr. have real per-minute cases to be All-Star reserves, but the former is only at 662 minutes, and the latter isn't much further ahead at 733 minutes.
AD hit a higher peak level than any of those other candidates before going down with his injury. That, along with a just-barely-acceptable amount of playing time, gives him the advantage.
Let's not allow an absence that has now lasted more than a month distract from Davis' dominance. He was racking up 27.4 points and 12.1 boards per game with a 66.2 true shooting percentage that was just a hair better than Williamson, a layup machine. Jackson and Draymond Green are the only players out West who've approached the level of defensive impact that Davis made prior to his injury, and neither is anywhere close to matching his offensive production.
Jokić and Embiid are the two best centers in the league, but it's easy to forget that Davis was closer than anyone to their level until he went down.
West Guard Reserves
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder's ongoing refusal to fall in line with everyone's tanking expectations owes to several factors, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's All-NBA-caliber performance is the most significant.
SGA is averaging 30.5 points per game while shooting 50.1 percent from the field. That seemingly simple 30/50 twofer is anything but common historically. Michael Jordan logged five such seasons, but Stephen Curry, Karl Malone and Kevin Durant are the only players to average at least 30 points while making half their shots since the early '90s.
To volume and efficiency we must also add timing. Gilgeous-Alexander is second in the league in clutch free throws and tied for fourth in total points. Whenever the Thunder desperately need them, SGA generates buckets by engaging the nastiest stop-and-start isolation game there is, working his way to the hole against defenders who look like they're trying to keep their balance on a ship at sea during a typhoon.
No one forces defenses to constrict better than Gilgeous-Alexander. He's leading the league in drives per game for the third straight year, and he has also become a low-key menace in the post, where he's averaging 1.18 points per post-up chance. Though on much higher volume, Joel Embiid is at 1.17. That's not bad company.
Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Little-known fact*: During warmups before the Memphis Grizzlies played the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 14, Indy big man Jalen Smith whispered to Ja Morant that he was going to have to settle for a reserve spot in an as-yet-unpublished All-Star prediction piece.
This is what happened next:
So if you think there's any way that Morant is sliding down to a wild-card spot, even with such fierce competition among so many worth candidates, sorry. It's just not happening.
Hellacious mid-air baptisms aside, Morant's statistical All-Star case is ironclad. He made the team last year and has followed up with increases in points, rebounds, assists and free-throw attempts per 36 minutes. His 56.1 true shooting percentage lags slightly behind what he managed in 2021-22, but he's on pace to exceed last year's stellar 6.1 box plus-minus.
The unquestioned leader of a Grizzlies team with as good a shot as anyone to win the West, Morant has to be here. If you disagree, it's on you to tell him.
*Don't try to verify this. What even are "facts", really?
West Wild Cards
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Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are defined by their offense. When they score enough, they have a chance to offset a bottom-10 defense that routinely gives back whatever the offense gains.
We're not doing an MVP-adjacent "what does valuable really mean?" analysis here, but it matters that Damian Lillard is the reason the best thing about the Blazers—their high-end attack—is any good at all.
You can see his value in individual numbers: Lillard is averaging 29.3 points per game and ranks third in Offensive RAPTOR, trailing only Dončić and Jokić. The 32-year-old also remains among the league's most potent pick-and-roll operators, ranking in the 93rd percentile in points per possession. His penchant for firing deep threes stretches defenses beyond their breaking points.
All of that stuff bolsters Lillard's case, but the team numbers solidify it. Portland's offense is a deluge, posting 119.6 points per 100 possessions with Dame on the floor. Without him, it merely trickles, producing only 106.2.
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker's early-season presence as an MVP candidate is doing a lot of work here, as he's losing ground to the rest of the field due to a recurring groin injury that has limited him to only 1,002 minutes. That's still well clear of several players whom we excluded on playing-time grounds, but with the West guard spots so competitive, this is a closer shave than Booker or his supporters would prefer.
But prior to going down, Booker was putting up numbers as good or better than the ones he managed in his last three All-Star seasons. He was averaging 27.1 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds on 58.5 percent true shooting, and he's on pace to set a new career best in PER.
Add to that the contrast between the Phoenix Suns' record with him (18-11) and without him (3-13), and you have enough to give Booker the last wild-card spot.
West Snubs
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Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers
Last time around, Paul George snagged the West frontcourt reserve spot that now belongs to Lauri Markkanen. In the intervening weeks, it's become clearer that while PG remains more of an offensive catalyst and playmaker for the Clippers than Markkanen does for the Jazz, the gap is narrower than it once was, and George's spotty availability costs him.
PG's slide to snub status has everything to do with availability. He's averaging 23.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists while often running the offense as a de facto point guard. However, he's missed six of L.A.'s first nine games in January and was already trailing Markkanen in minutes by a big margin before the calendar flipped.
Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
It's not uncommon for the Defensive Player of the Year to be denied an All-Star nod. That was Marcus Smart's fate last year. Ditto for Kawhi Leonard in 2014-15. Rudy Gobert was an All-Star only once in his three DPOY seasons.
That may be small consolation for Jaren Jackson Jr., whose shot-stuffing, opponent-field-goal-percentage-stifling presence on the floor for the Memphis Grizzlies' No. 1 rated defense has him in line to collect a DPOY trophy if he stays healthy. To this point, though, he's missed more than a third of his team's games, and foul trouble (though not as severe as in years past) has limited him to only 26.2 minutes per game.
Jackson will make several All-Star Games, but he hasn't quite been on the court enough to crack the 2023 roster.
Also Considered: Kawhi Leonard, De'Aaron Fox, Aaron Gordon, Jerami Grant
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Jan. 18. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
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