2012 NBA All-Star Roster: Grading LeBron James and Each of the Starters

Yesterday, the All-Star starters were released. There weren't really any surprises, as there weren't any changes since the first update came, and there weren't really any tight races. 

For the most part, the voters got everything right, although the second forward spot in both conferences could be questioned. 

Here are grades for each of the starters. I'm evaluating them based on their being All-Stars and based on what you would expect form them. 

Obviously, if you're just comparing them to the average player, it's not much of a contest and they'd all get A's. I'll be using a much tougher scale, though, and grading them particularly on what you would expect from them. 

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Derrick Rose: A

Derrick Rose gets an A, even by his standards, and why shouldn't he? He's elevated so many aspects of his games. 

His scoring is down slightly, form 25.0 to 23.5, but he's much more efficient this year. His effective field-goal percentage of .497 and true shooting percentage of .560 are both career highs. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is sixth-best in the NBA; his Alternate Player Efficiency Rating (APER), which counts created shots, is third-best. He has the most Win Shares of any guard in the NBA. 

He's a more efficient scorer, and he's also a better passer. His assists are up, and his passing turnovers are down. 

Rose might not deserve the MVP this year, but he sure deserves an A. 

Dwyane Wade, C-

Based on mere mortal standards, you can hardly find fault with Dwyane Wade, but based on Wadeian standards, this is a down year. 

Wade is posting his lowest scoring average since his rookie season. His effective field-goal percentage of .446 is a career low. He has yet to make a three-point shot this year. His PER is the lowest it's been since 2008. 

By Wade standards, this is a below-average season. That's in part because of his injuries, which is why he gets a C- instead of a lower grade. 

Carmelo Anthony, D-

Carmelo Anthony is not having a good year. He's not having an average year. He's having a bad year. He's having a borderline awful year. 

First, he's the only starter that is playing for a losing team. Second, Anthony is a part of the reason they are having a losing season.

His field-goal percentage of .403 is just awful. Anthony is not really making up for that at the free-throw line either, scoring just 1.18 points per field-goal attempt. 

Anthony has also arguably interfered with the success of Amar'e Stoudemire, whose production has plummeted since the team acquired Anthony. 

The only reason that Anthony gets a passing grade is his tremendous fourth-quarter production.

Chris Bosh should be the other starting forward for the Eastern Conference, though. And this is coming from a Bulls fan.

LeBron James, A+

LeBron James is experiencing one of the best years in the history of the NBA. Some people may want to nitpick about what he hasn't done in the fourth quarter. I elect to not nitpick and focus on the forest, not the trees.

James has an absolutely ridiculous PER of 33.2, which, if he maintains it, would shatter the existing NBA record of 31.84 by Wilt Chamberlain. He's maintaining a field-goal percentage of .553, which is just insane for a small forward.

He is absolutely having the best season of any player in the NBA this year and arguably one of the best ever. This is an easy grade, and the only way that someone could give him less than that is leftover "Decision" hate.

Dwight Howard, D+

For all the talk about his getting traded and how he's playing hard anyway, the reality is that Dwight Howard is actually having a down year. 

His field-goal percentage is down. Somehow, even his free-throw percentage is down. I don't even know how that's possible, but it's true. Howard is shooting just .554 from the field this year, down nearly 40 points from last year, and from the stripe he's down 122 points, from .596 to .474. 

He gets credit for his rebounding numbers being up, but one has to wonder how many of those are his own missed shots or free throws. 

In terms of Win Shares, he's not even the best center in the league anymore. Tyson Chandler has passed him in that regard. Chandler has 3.8 WS to Howard's 3.2. 

In terms of defensive points per play against, based on Synergy stats, Chandler is also blowing Howard out of the water, giving up just .74 points per play to Howard's .82. 

You can argue that Howard doesn't have any help, but then, neither does Chandler defensively.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Chandler is actually better, but that there's even a statistical conversation to be had shows that Howard's game has fallen off this year. 

Chris Paul, A

If winning is the judge, Chris Paul deserves an A. If statistics are the judge, Chris Paul deserves an A. Either way, Chris Paul deserves an A. 

Paul is having a fantastic season, averaging 18.9 points and 9.1 assists per game. His PER of 27.1 is the second-best of his career. His true shooting percentage of .613 is silly for a point guard and is a career high. 

The single best matchup in the All-Star game is Derrick Rose versus Chris Paul. In the golden age of point guards, the conversation of who is the very best has been narrowed down to two names, and these are the two. 

Kobe Bryant, A

Kobe Bryant was supposed to be the seventh-best player in the world. He was supposed to be too old and in decline. Yeah. So much for that. 

Instead, Bryant is leading the NBA in scoring and is once again putting the Lakers on his back. He's averaging 30.0 points per game and shooting a .483 effective field-goal percentage with a PER of 26.3. That's "only" second best in the NBA.

Kevin Durant, A

My initial instinct was to give Durant a B+ due to his drop in scoring, from 27.7 to 26.6, and down from 30.1 two years ago. 

That may have something to do with the more conservative way the NBA is calling follow through on block fouls. Durant's drop in scoring is exactly equal to his drop in free-throw attempts. 

This is more than offset by other factors. Durant is having a career high in field-goal percentage with .506, rebounds with 8.1, assists with 3.1, steals with 1.2 and blocks with 1.3. His PER of 26.4 is, again, a career high. 

Then again, Durant is having a career high in turnovers if you want to nitpick. 

Blake Griffin, B

Blake Griffin is having a good season, but he isn't having as good of a season as Kevin Love. He shouldn't be starting in the All-Star game—Kevin Love should. 

Love's numbers are better than Griffin's across the board. 

Player	TS%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	PER	WS
Blake Griffin	.542	10.9	2.9	0.9	1.1	2.9	3.2	21.4	22.4	2.1
Kevin Love	.578	13.6	1.6	1.0	0.5	2.6	2.8	25.3	25.8	4.5

Griffin is certainly a good player and an All-Star player, but he should be backing up Love, not starting in front of him. 

Andrew Bynum, B

Andrew Bynum is having a breakout year. He's finally emerging as the dominant center he's had the promise of being all along.

He's scoring a career high 16.5 points per game. He's averaging a career-high 12.1 rebounds. His PER is 21.5, the best since he went down with injury in 2008. 

I give him a B, though, because he's doing better, but I still feel he's coming short of his potential. You can put the blame on Kobe Bryant if you want, but not all of it.