Final Predictions for 2024 NBA All-Star Reserves
This season's All-Star starters were revealed on Thursday during TNT's NBA Tip-Off, and there weren't many surprises.
In the East, it's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum in the frontcourt, with Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard as the guards.
Out west, Luka Dončić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are in the backcourt, while LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokić are the frontcourt players.
Now, attention turns to the reserves. Barring injury replacements, there are 14 All-Star spots left. Each conference gets two more guards, three more frontcourt players and two wild cards.
Scroll below to peer into our crystal ball (guided by numbers, history and the fact that the coaches pick reserves) and find out whose names will be called when the rosters are filled out next week.
East Guards
1 of 6
Jalen Brunson
Though they're certainly not definitive, a number of catch-all metrics from around the internet can be instructive when looking at All-Star cases.
And if you sort every qualified player by the average of their ranks in four of the readily available catch-alls (plus the cumulative versions of each), Jalen Brunson is currently 14th in the NBA overall and third among Eastern Conference guards (behind only Haliburton and Donovan Mitchell).
On the season, Brunson is putting up 26.6 points, 6.5 assists and 2.8 threes, while shooting 42.3 percent from deep. He's the on-court leader of a New York Knicks team in the hunt for home-court advantage in the first round, and he's had four 40-plus-point performances for the league's biggest media market.
Donovan Mitchell
His name already came up as the guard slotted between Haliburton and Brunson in the catch-all exercise, and it's not hard to see why.
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 27.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.1 threes, and he deserves a little extra credit for the way he's pushed his Cleveland Cavaliers up the standings after injuries to Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
Right when it looked like Cleveland might be in a position to fold, potentially trade Mitchell and look to the future, he put the offense on his back and pushed the Cavs into contention for home-court advantage.
West Guards
2 of 6
Stephen Curry
It almost feels foreign to see Stephen Curry outside the West's starters, but the cases of SGA and Dončić are pretty ironclad. The same can probably be said of Curry's case to be a reserve.
By his absurd standards, Curry's numbers are down a bit, but he's still averaging 26.7 points, 5.0 assists and a league-leading 4.5 threes while shooting 40.1 percent from deep.
It wouldn't feel like an All-Star game without Curry and his long-range jumpers, and you can pretty much set his 10th selection in stone.
Anthony Edwards
The aforementioned catch-all exercise has both James Harden and Devin Booker ahead of him, but it feels like Anthony Edwards deserves credit for being the leading scorer of the team that's spent most of the season in first place in the West.
That's not the beginning and end of his case, though. Edwards is averaging 25.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.4 threes. He's a Human Highlight Reel-level finisher around the rim (a good thing for an All-Star game), and he's missed fewer games than both Booker and Harden (who also has his early season trade request working against him).
East Frontcourt
3 of 6
Scottie Barnes
He's cooled off quite a bit since the early portion of the season, but Scottie Barnes is still one of the league's most versatile point forwards on offense and multi-positional defenders on the other end.
In his third campaign, Barnes is putting up a well-rounded 20.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals.
While some coaches may have a hard time voting in a 22-year-old on a way-below-.500 team, Barnes' production is undeniable.
Julius Randle
No-brainer picks for the East's frontcourt reserves dry up awful quick after Barnes. There are a handful of solid choices, but there are also pretty obvious holes in most of their cases.
For the second of these three spots, we'll settle on Julius Randle, whose New York Knicks have quietly surged into contention for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
While Brunson rightfully gets a lot of the credit for that, Randle has been one of the game's better No. 2s, with averages of 24.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Jaylen Brown
His assist-to-turnover ratio still leaves a lot to be desired, and his scoring volume is down a bit following the arrivals of Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday this past summer.
But the Boston Celtics have been pretty overwhelmingly the best team in the league by record and net rating for most of the way, and that means they're probably getting multiple All-Stars.
There are cases for Porziņģis or Derrick White (and you might see them later), but we'll go with Brown for this spot. He's putting up 23.1 points and 3.6 assists and is a huge reason Boston is winning the non-Tatum minutes.
West Frontcourt
4 of 6
Kawhi Leonard
All three Los Angeles Clippers stars' numbers are subdued a bit by the presence of the others, but Kawhi Leonard has still been a clear-cut All-Star. In fact, given the Clippers' success, you could probably argue he should be starting over LeBron.
Leonard is averaging 23.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 threes and 1.7 steals while shooting 55.5 percent on twos and 44.3 percent from deep.
His defense looks a lot more like it did during his pre-injury days with the San Antonio Spurs. Perhaps most importantly, he's only missed four games this season.
Anthony Davis
If not for his team's sub-.500 record and his teammate's uber-popularity, Anthony Davis is another star who might have a case to start this All-Star game.
Davis has been a constant force on both ends of the floor for the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 25.0 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.2 steals.
Domantas Sabonis
The Sacramento Kings haven't taken the step forward that some expected this season, but Domantas Sabonis is still averaging 20.0 points, a league-leading 12.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists. His 12 total triple-doubles trail only Jokić in that category.
Those arguing for Lauri Markkanen, Chet Holmgren or Alperen Şengün in this spot may point to Sabonis' defensive struggles or lack of outside shooting, but it's hard to argue with the raw production.
East Wild Cards
5 of 6
Tyrese Maxey
Tyrese Maxey almost has to be in. He's currently 15th among all players in the aforementioned catch-all exercise, and his slide over to lead ball-handler has been an under-appreciated aspect of both Embiid's and the Philadelphia 76ers' success.
Maxey is not a ball-dominant 1, but he's still putting up gaudy averages of 25.8 points, 6.7 assists and 3.1 threes while shooting 37.9 percent from deep.
Bam Adebayo
Derrick White is the player I really want to put here. He's averaging 16.0 points, 4.8 assists, 2.7 threes, 1.2 blocks (wild for a guard) and 1.1 steals. He's shooting 40.4 percent from three.
Even those basic numbers don't do White justice. Among Celtics rotation players, no one's impact on net rating is greater. They're plus-13.3 points per 100 possessions when White's on the floor and plus-3.4 when he's not.
But, this article is more about who will be an All-Star, rather than who should. Even as the Miami Heat have been fairly underwhelming this season and most of their candidates have missed a lot of time, it would be pretty surprising if they don't have a single All-Star.
With that in mind, we'll go with Bam Adebayo here. Adebayo, despite playing in only 34 games, is doing a lot to keep Miami in the hunt for a top-six spot in the East. He's averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks.
Others With a Case: Kristaps Porziņģis, Derrick White, Jarrett Allen, Jimmy Butler, Pascal Siakam
West Wild Cards
6 of 6
Devin Booker
The argument against Devin Booker largely relies on the number of games he's missed (which is up to nine), but it's pretty weak after that.
The Phoenix Suns have been dominant since their big three got healthy, and Booker has ably functioned as the nominal point guard in that trio.
As such, he's putting up 27.2 points, 7.5 assists and 2.2 threes while shooting 38.1 percent from deep.
Lauri Markkanen
This final spot is probably the toughest call of the entire exercise. The West is absolutely loaded with star talent, and there are real cases for probably eight or nine guys here. You wouldn't get a ton of pushback from me if you went with any of them.
Lauri Markkanen gets the nod for once again being one of the games's most efficient and low-maintenance finishers.
He's putting up 23.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 threes while shooting 39.0 percent from deep. He's in the top 25 for both dunks and threes, and among players with at least 30 appearances, he's fourth in points per touch.
Others With a Case: James Harden, Alperen Şengün, Chet Holmgren, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, De'Aaron Fox, Victor Wembanyama, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jamal Murray, CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson and Rudy Gobert
.jpg?w=600 "Browns Rejected Cowboys Trade Offer")
