The 5 Most Undeserving NBA All-Stars and the 5 Biggest Snubs

With the NBA trade deadline soaking up everyone's attention, the All-Star Game slid into the background—and with it a few discussion-worthy selections.

Here, we'll run down the names that may not have deserved to make the cut. As a bonus, we'll even provide alternatives. Because listing snubs without replacements is for cowards.

The NBA has succeeded in complicating the All-Star Game to an impressive degree. There are three teams now instead of two, and one has to be made up of international players. Conferences seem to matter for voting purposes but then don't mean anything when constructing that trio of teams. As such, we're ignoring the national/international and East/West components for our snubs and replacements.

If the league doesn't care about conferences or positions, neither do we.

James Harden over Brandon Ingram

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The Case for Harden

There's a good argument that Kawhi Leonard was the best player in the league after Dec. 1. He's averaging 28.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals since then—all while driving serious team success. The Clippers started the season with a 6-21 record and went 2-13 in November. Leonard's return to vintage form triggered a 16-3 run from Dec. 20 to Jan. 27.

Thankfully, Leonard made the team as an injury replacement.

But it's not like LA's turnaround was all about him. James Harden had plenty to do with it.

Before LA dealt him to the Cavaliers, Harden averaged 25.4 points and 8.1 assists while getting to the foul line 8.4 times per game. And if volume matters, his 45 games topped Leonard's 37 before the trade deadline.

The Case Against Ingram

Brandon Ingram—not Harden—got the nod as Stephen Curry's injury replacement.

Ingram is having a fine season, averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. But he's fifth on his own team in Estimated Plus/Minus and the Toronto Raptors' net rating is 4.9 points per 100 possessions worse when he's on the floor. Prior to the trade, Harden's Clippers were 2.8 points better.

If Toronto were leading the East, maybe there'd be a case that someone from the team should join Scottie Barnes as an All-Star pick. But the Raptors aren't even in the top four. This one's confusing.

Mikal Bridges over Karl-Anthony Towns

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The Case for Bridges

As you might expect for the NBA's most durable player, Bridges deserves consideration partly on the strength of his high-volume contributions. The 29-year-old wing hasn't missed a game in his entire career and has played nearly 200 more minutes than any New York Knicks teammate.

Though Bridges' scoring average is down from last year, he's been far more efficient and is drilling 39.0 percent of his 5.6 three-point attempts per game. Bridges is also averaging a career-high 4.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds to go with his 15.7 points per game, which pairs nicely with what he does on defense.

Only six players in the NBA have played as many minutes as Bridges while logging a higher average matchup difficulty. All-Star contests may not care much about defense, but it's impossible to ignore his elite two-way contributions for a Knicks team good enough to deserve a second All-Star after no-brainer inclusion Jalen Brunson.

The Case Against Towns

The counting stats made Towns the easy second pick among Knicks, but his 19.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game overstate his impact. A purported threat from three, he is only attempting 4.5 long balls per game and hitting them at just 35.3 percent. Paired with a career-low 51.6 percent conversion rate on two-pointers, KAT is easily having the least efficient season of his career.

Opponents are shooting 63.8 percent on attempts inside six feet when Towns is the designated defender, one of the worst figures in the league among bigs. New York has had to tweak its coverages to shield him from downhill drivers.

Mash all that up with advanced metrics like EPM that give the edge (among Knicks) to Bridges, Towns' penchant for ill-advised fouls and previous reports that teammates were frustrated with his failure to execute schemes, and it's not that hard to conclude Bridges should be the choice if the Knicks are getting a second All-Star.

Michael Porter Jr. over Devin Booker

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The Case for Porter Jr.

Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 25.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists on 60.9 percent true shooting. The list of 25-point scorers with a true shooting percentage at least that high this season is pretty short and features eight former MVPs. Not to knock Booker, but he isn't on it.

That Porter Jr. is having his best volume-efficiency scoring season with so little help around him on a young and inexperienced Brooklyn Nets team only makes it more impressive. And while it's true the Nets aren't often involved in high-stakes games, Porter's impact on their success (insofar as they're interested in that) remains high.

With MPJ on the floor, Brooklyn's net rating is a team-high 10.2 points per 100 possessions better. Framed another way, Brooklyn performs at a level in the realm of the Grizzlies, Bucks and Bulls with Porter Jr. in the game and at one that sits well below the league-worst Washington Wizards when he sits.

The Case Against Booker

The Phoenix Suns are this season's most pleasant surprise, but their expectation-defying efforts aren't all about Booker.

Though he's slightly topping MPJ with 25.3 points per game, he's scoring far less efficiently by hitting only 45.6 percent of his shots from the field and a career-worst 30.7 percent from deep. Among the 109 players who've attempted at least 200 triples this year, Booker's hit rate ranks 108th.

Among Suns players, Collin Gillespie has logged 10 more games and posted a higher total of Estimated Wins. Dillon Brooks' on-the-edge competitiveness and surprising shot-making also give him a case as Phoenix's All-Star representative.

Even if you conclude Booker is the Suns' worthiest option, he hasn't produced at an All-Star level using league-wide standards.

Bam Adebayo over Norman Powell

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The Case for Adebayo

We'll get into the numbers, but the best argument for Bam Adebayo as an All-Star is about what we just feel to be true: He is the Miami Heat. His defensive versatility, unselfish offensive mindset and steadying influence on both ends define the team.

That shows up in the best on-off net rating swing among Heat players with at least 1,300 minutes. And it's also evident in the way Miami completely falls apart on the defensive glass and in the scoring column whenever he's not in the game.

In a down year, Adebayo is putting up 18.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while extending his range to levels never before seen. He has already attempted more threes than he did all of last year, and is hitting them at a 34.6 percent clip that draws defensive attention.

As a five-position defender who can score on his own and facilitate, Adebayo is one of one.

The Case Against Powell

Powell's 23.0 points per game are well ahead of Adebayo's 18.2, and it shouldn't be a surprise that the scoring specialist is also getting his numbers more efficiently than his two-way teammate.

Powell's 61.6 true shooting percentage is objectively excellent.

But the veteran wing isn't a defensive difference-maker, and he's logged more turnovers against fewer assists than Adebayo. If the Heat have an All-Star, it should be the guy with a more well-rounded impact on the team.

Evan Mobley over Alperen Sengün

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The Case for Mobley

A disappointing year isn't the same thing as a bad one, and Evan Mobley's All-Star snub suggests some confusion on that issue.

Mobley is posting 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks in 33.4 minutes, averages matched by no other player in the league. Few bigs are tasked with as much ball-handling and passing as Mobley, which sets him apart from the field.

On defense, where his ability to guard smaller players in space similarly distinguishes him, Mobley also offers elite conventional contributions. He's been tagged as the primary defender on 7.9 shots per game inside six feet and is holding opponents to just 53.2 percent shooting on them. No one in the league who covers at least 7.0 shots per game at that range is suppressing accuracy as much as Mobley is.

The Case Against Sengün

Sengün's inclusion as an injury replacement depended mainly on stellar counting stats. He's averaging 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists—certainly nothing to sneeze at for a center.

His case falls apart in the efficiency department, as Sengün is hitting less than half of his shots from the field and only 29.8 percent of his threes. His effective field-goal percentage of 51.3 percent is far worse than Mobley's 55.5.

Defensively, there's really no comparison. After earning credit as part of a strong team-wide defensive performance last season, Sengün is getting ripped by coaches in the press and teammates on the floor for his poor work on that end.

Opponents hunt Sengün in ways they'd never dream of with Mobley. The per-game averages are nice, but a look under the hood at efficiency and at how teams treat these two big men on D reveals a pretty big gap.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.