Every NBA Team's Ideal 2016 All-Star Weekend Competitor
The 2016 superstar showcase is in Toronto this year, and the Feb. 14 tipoff is fast approaching. The voting process will soon close, rosters will be announced shortly thereafter and the weekend slate will then be set in stone.
But what if the All-Star festivities were different? What if each team was allowed to choose one player as its representative in every major All-Star Weekend event? Who would end up in Toronto?
In answering these questions, we'll look only at the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, Slam Dunk Contest and All-Star matchup itself—though the latter won't be as important as the previous three.
Selected names won't always be their respective team's most valuable contributor. They'll instead be the players most likely to hold their own and thrive in every aspect of the All-Star bash. Statistics, play styles and, most importantly, good ol' fashion common sense will shape our choices. Injured players won't be up for consideration, so mourn Blake Griffin's absence now.
The nature of our imaginary weekend is a logistical nightmare, but we don't care. This is the space where make-believe All-Star happenings matter.
Atlanta Hawks: Paul Millsap
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Paul Millsap is the Draymond Green of the Eastern Conference.
There are only a handful of forwards who rival his versatility—if that—and he has the numbers to prove it. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Paul George, in addition to Millsap, are the only other forwards to clear 750 total points, 125 assists and 30 made three-pointers.
Already a two-time All-Star, Millsap has the improved handles and vision necessary for the Skills Challenge, as well as the outside chops to make noise during the Three-Point Contest. While he's shooting below 30 percent from long range this season, he's historically shown he can convert from behind the arc. He knocked down 35.6 percent last year and hasn't dipped below 30 percent for a full campaign since 2011-12.
If you're worried about him holding his own in the dunk competition, here's some advice: Don't. He ranks second on the Atlanta Hawks in total jams and can be vicious upon taking flight.
Boston Celtics: Jae Crowder
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All Jae Crowder does is impress.
Four players are tallying 15 points, five rebounds and two steals per 36 minutes while burying 35 percent or more of their treys. Crowder is one. Reigning MVP Stephen Curry, super-duper San Antonio Spurs megastar Kawhi Leonard and thin-is-in-because-all-I-do-is-win Kyle Lowry are the other three.
Only the thread-the-needle aspect of the skills jamboree can prove difficult for Crowder. The Boston Celtics rarely use him as a facilitator, and his assist rate has reached 10 only once. But it's not as if Crowder commits a frenzy of turnovers. He commands nice control of the ball and has excelled amid increased freedom to attack off the dribble.
Surviving the Skills Challenge shouldn't be that much of a problem. Even if it is, Crowder is bound to make up for those hypothetical struggles everywhere else.
Brooklyn Nets: Thaddeus Young
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There is no "ideal" selection for the sinking ship that is the Brooklyn Nets.
Brook Lopez is their only legitimate All-Star, and he doesn't have nearly enough offensive range to compete in all of the All-Star Weekend events. Joe Johnson hasn't been at his peak since he was in Atlanta.
Thaddeus Young is the only possible choice. He hasn't shot better than 33 percent from downtown in six years, and his assist percentages have plummeted while in Brooklyn, but he has the general makeup of a playmaking 4.
This is the fourth consecutive season in which he's averaging 15 points, six rebounds and 1.5 steals per 36 minutes. Millsap is the only other player enjoying a similar streak.
If Young could make threes, or if he, like Millsap, had a history of making threes, we could feel really good about this pick. For now, he's just the best option on a team with virtually none.
Charlotte Hornets: Nicolas Batum
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Nicolas Batum has been a premier point forward since before such things were in vogue.
It's not hard to imagine him carving up the Skills Challenge, and his 35-plus percent clip from beyond the arc is good enough to be competitive during the three-point festivities.
Dunking isn't necessarily his forte, but he can play above the rim. Anyone who once destroyed Dwight Howard—even 2012-13 Dwight Howard—is A-OK in my book/diary/crumpled stack of loose-leaf paper with smudged doodles.
If we're being completely real, Batum has a chance to become an actual All-Star.
Draymond Green, Blake Griffin, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook are the only other players averaging 16 points, six rebounds and five assists per 36 minutes, and his true shooting percentage—combined measurement of two-point, three-point and free-throw efficiency—has skyrocketed right along with his usage rate.
Chicago Bulls: Jimmy Butler
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Jimmy Butler leads the Chicago Bulls in dunks and can soar above the rim with the best of them.
He is one of two players with an assist rate of 19 and a turnover rate below 10. He joins Curry, George, Lowry and Westbrook as the only five players clearing 20 points, 4.5 rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals per 36 minutes. He has collected more win shares than LeBron James.
Is there anything Butler isn't doing really, really, ridiculously well?
Actually, yes. He is shooting under 33 percent from long range and has been a relatively streaky three-point marksman for his entire career.
But the Bulls offense isn't humming like it was last season, when Butler put in 37.8 percent of his deep balls. So while his performance during the three-point tournament is the biggest concern, it's really not a huge one.
Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James
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Let's not make this difficult.
LeBron James is still dominating just about every facet of the game. He ranks sixth in win shares and has the fourth-highest box plus-minus—which measures how much better the average team is with a certain player on the floor—in the league, behind only Curry, Kawhi Leonard and Westbrook.
This is also the seventh time James will average 25 points, six rebounds, six assists and one steal per 36 minutes minutes. Everyone else in NBA history has matched those splits a total of four times.
The Skills Challenge could use LeBron. The dunk contest needs him. The three-point bracket—well, no one's perfect.
James is torching twine on just 30 percent of his three-balls—his lowest success rate since he was rookie. He'll be overmatched in what's mostly a loaded three-point field.
Then again, he's LeBron James. If recent trends mean anything, he is shooting 41.5 percent from deep since the calendar turned to 2016. We can't rule out his transformation into Curry for three rounds worth of uncontested chucking.
Dallas Mavericks: Chandler Parsons
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We see you, Dirk Nowitzki. And if you were but 10 years younger, we'd pick you.
Chandler Parsons is still searching for his groove after undergoing surgery on his right knee last May. But he has the right blend of playmaking, handling, shooting and explosion to represent the Dallas Mavericks in our imaginary world.
Parsons is one of three Mavericks players with at least 10 dunks on the season, and J.J. Hickson knows better than anyone that a healthy Parsons isn't afraid to break out the jet-propelled sneaker soles.
Sub-33 percent shooting from behind the arc doesn't spell good news for him during the three-point extravaganza. But Parsons is converting 40 percent of his wide-open threes and should be able to hold his own so long as the NBA doesn't stick rotating to-scale wax statues of Rudy Gobert in front of every participant.
Denver Nuggets: Will Barton
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There is no telling how Will Barton would fare in the real All-Star exhibition, lining up against various megastars, MVP candidates and generational talents.
Barton is a detonative scorer with understated vision and fearless range. He's always one baseline drive away from poster status, and his per-36-minute benchmarks are insane.
Three players join Barton in averaging at least 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists per 36 minutes while shooting 38 percent or better from three-point land: Durant, George and Draymond Green.
At his best, Barton is going to adequately contend for each Saturday night event. And on Sunday, during a main event that includes more Unicorns than real-life defense, the 25-year-old Barton should be good for six uses of "boomshakalaka" and four of "Is it the shoes?" during his time on the floor.
Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson
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Reggie Jackson would have been a good bet for the Skills Challenge. You could even argue, relative to point guards in general, throwing him into the dunking ring, at just 6'3", made plenty of sense.
Never, in a million years, could we have envisioned Jackson holding his own at the three-point fray. Yet, here we are.
His 34.9 percent shooting from the outside won't make Curry gush with envy, but it is more than five percentage points better than his first four seasons. He is even more accurate when left to his own devices, sinking 37.6 percent when no defender is within four feet.
That improvement keeps in theme with the rest of Jackson's 2015-16 campaign, one that has seen him statistically state his All-Star case. He is indispensable to any offensive success the Detroit Pistons muster, while Chris Paul and John Wall are the only two other players eclipsing 20 points and 7.5 assists per 36 minutes, in addition to draining 34 percent of their threes.
Golden State Warriors: Draymond Green
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Resisting the urge to roll with Stephen Curry wasn't as tough as you might think. He would be voted "Most Likely to Attempt Only Layups" during the dunking exhibition, and Green, who is averaging more assists than Curry per 36 minutes, deserves to showcase his crafty handles and nimble footwork in the Skills Challenge.
Though it's unlikely he runs away with the three-point race to the same extent Curry could, Green is still banging in more than 42 percent of his long-distance looks. And tossing him into the general All-Star mix is a given at this point.
No one has ever reached his rebound, assist, steal and block percentages in the same season, and he is just the third player in NBA history to average 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists per 36 minutes. Green's company?
Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
Harrison Barnes will need to teach Green a thing or 12 about dunking for fanfare, but as the league's foremost master of all trades, he's more qualified than anyone to participate in everything All-Star Weekend has to offer.
Houston Rockets: James Harden
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James Harden has dunked in fewer games this season (five) than Corey Brewer (seven), which feels just plain wrong. But the Houston Rockets shooting guard can get his fair share of hang time, and not one of his teammates is a more viable option to compete in every event.
While Harden's shooting percentages haven't totally rebounded from a rocky start, he found nylon on 36 percent or more of his treys in each of the previous four seasons and was invited to last year's long-range clambake.
None of his running mates are even remotely worthy of competing in the skills clash. Harden uses up more than 32 percent of Houston's possessions when in the game, and the next-closest Rockets player is eight percentage points behind him. He is the team's de facto point guard and won't be out of his element as he navigates the Skills Challenge course.
Players with bigger, better brands dwarf Harden's voting clout, and he is once again plagued by serial laziness on the defensive end, but he remains the face of the shooting guard position. He has a better box plus-minus than Butler and Klay Thompson while playing for a clearly inferior Rockets squad, and there isn't an active player aside from James with more seasons of averaging 24 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes than Harden.
Indiana Pacers: Paul George
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Paul George would only fail to represent the Indiana Pacers if he was unable to throw down electric dunks (this side of the right leg injury he suffered during the summer of 2014). Or if rookie Myles Turner's world-takeover tour was already fully functional.
Alas, George is safe. Turner is prolific but inexperienced, and George, though not a nightly high-flyer, wasted little time proving he still owns a working set of invisible wings.
Every other part of George's All-Star getaway is gravy. He regularly plays point power forward for the Pacers and should have no trouble with the stop-pop-pass ebb and flow of the skills demonstration, and his three-point stroke is, per usual, almost infallible.
The rest of George's All-Star case is rock-solid. He already has two appearances to his resume and is about to earn his second career start in Toronto. He is on track to hit 24 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists and two steals per 36 minutes, a feat thus far accomplished by only Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Westbrook.
Los Angeles Clippers: Josh Smith
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Josh Smith is your "the Los Angeles Clippers do not have another every-event talent with Blake Griffin on the shelf" alert.
Griffin is expected to return from a partially torn left quadriceps tendon sometime in the near future, per the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch, but "sometime in the near future" isn't now. He hasn't played since the Clippers' Christmas Day victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, leaving him too far removed from the action.
Besides, Smith is more reckless when it comes to firing up threes. He has attempted nearly 1,500 for his career—almost 10 times as many as Griffin—despite never shooting better than 31.1 percent on those looks for an entire schedule.
Now on the unfortunate side of his 30th birthday, Smith is by no means the dare-to-be-great selection. As a former winner of the rim-rocking championships in 2005 with an underrated propensity for handling the ball and doling out dimes, he has more of the do-everything goods than any of Griffin's other understudies.
If only DeAndre Jordan could shoot, or Chris Paul could dunk, or Austin Rivers could shoot and dunk, am I right?
Los Angeles Lakers: D'Angelo Russell
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D'Angelo Russell isn't the sexy pick, but in the interest of saving Kobe Bryant from "death by All-Star Weekend," here he sits.
Also, the Lakers don't have a sexy pick. There isn't another player on the roster, Jordan Clarkson included, who can hold his own in both the three-point shootout and dunk competition.
Russell has just one jam on the season but can do more. He stands 6'5", with an on-ball burst that puts most guards to shame.
Neither his three-point shooting nor turnover ratio will win him any awards or All-Star battles, but he is improving. His downtown clip and assist percentage have jumped since sitting out against the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 5, and he displays enough bravado to feel comfortable on such a star-stuffed stage.
"Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet," he said after going for a career-high 27 points and four assists against the Sacramento Kings on Jan 7, per Sam Amick of USA Today. "That’s all I’m going to say...The world hasn’t seen anything yet."
Memphis Grizzlies: Courtney Lee
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How far away are the Memphis Grizzlies from employing a star who is proficient in every fathomable All-Star area?
This far.
Courtney Lee, his three dunks, an average playmaking arc and a below-average three-point clip is all the Grizzlies have to contribute. Jeff Green would have the edge if he could shoot worth a... but he can't, so he doesn't.
Now, if it helps, this is the first time Lee has shot worse than 37 percent from behind the rainbow since 2009-10. And if it helps some more, Lee put LeBron on the wrong end of a poster many moons ago.
Short of Vince Carter procuring a working time machine, kidnapping his early-2000s self and bringing him to 2016, Lee is the best, and only, viable Grizzlies representative.
Miami Heat: Gerald Green
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Nearly 10 years have passed since Gerald Green won the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest, and, well, Gerald Green doesn't care.
Rookie Justise Winslow, all of 19, might be a better stand-in for the dunking spectacular, and Dwyane Wade is most definitely more suited for the Skills challenge. But Green has enough juice left in his legs to bring Air Canada Centre to its feet, and neither Wade nor Winslow comes close to rivaling his outside acumen.
Green's 34.7 percent slash from deep is mediocre, and it's noticeably below his career average. It's also more than 10 points better than either Wade's or Winslow's, and Green has shown he'll swish triples with more consistency when given a ton of space.
Choosing Green is, in a way, emblematic of the Miami Heat at large. Just as you could see them making it through to the Eastern Conference Finals or dropping entirely out of postseason contention, you can also see Green stealing the show at every possible event or failing in fantastic fashion.
Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton
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Giannis Antetokounmpo should be here. He is seemingly made for this type of competition—an every-position freak who does a little bit of everything, but not enough of anything.
A glaring lack of outside shooting displaces him though: Antetokounmpo hits at below-average rates from every range beyond three feet of the hoop, and the Milwaukee Bucks don't have the surrounding floor-spacing to expedite his development.
Fortunately for them, there's Khris Middleton, who does enough of everything.
Three-point touch? Got it. Crazy slams? He's been known to the throw them down. Point guard-esque ball-bearing skills? More than one-third of his baskets are self-created, he seldom turns over the rock, and his assist percentage is the second highest among Milwaukee's starters.
All-Star numbers? Um, yeah.
Of all the players to log at least 500 total minutes this season, four are averaging 17 points and 3.5 assists per 36 minutes and splashing in 40 percent of their three-pointers: Curry, Durant, Middleton and Jeff Teague.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Zach LaVine
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Speaking strictly in these specific All-Star Weekend participant terms, Zach LaVine is the most polished member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wait, what?
Andrew Wiggins hasn't made enough progress on his three-point shot and isn't yet a consistent facilitator. Karl-Anthony Towns already wields the jumper and gravity-grating athleticism but isn't the Skills Challenge type. Ricky Rubio would be a visual disaster outside the Skills Challenge—and the call for making jumpers there means his success isn't guaranteed.
LaVine, meanwhile, dominated last year's Slam Dunk Contest, running away from his opponents with a first-round smash worthy of him being cast in the next Space Jam. He has struggled at times vacillating between both guard positions, but he has the ball-handling and precision to render Rubio proud.
Although LaVine's three-point percentage has dipped since last season, he has been deadly off the catch. No one will be flinging him passes during his trip around the arc, but strong spot-up faculties are a good foundation for any type of shooting situation.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday
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Dear Anthony Davis,
As soon as you complete your transformation into a stretch skyscraper and start ripping threes on a semi-consistent basis, this is your slot. In the meantime...Jrue Holiday!
He dunks more than Tyreke Evans, is converting almost 39 percent of his deep bombs when there is no defender within four feet and, when healthy, maintains the production of a recurring Skills Challenge contender.
Three other players are averaging 19 points and 6.5 assists per 36 minutes while shooting 37 percent or better from a different area code: Some dudes by the names of Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Chris Paul. You may have heard of them.
Please, then, don't take this personally, Mr. Davis. You are a phenomenal basketball demigod and will one day make a great sidekick for Ben Simmons.
Signed,
Most Definitely Not Eric Gordon
New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis
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To think, Kristaps Porzingis almost didn't make the cut.
Not because he doesn't deserve to make said cut. He does.
Anyone who has watched him humiliate many of the NBA's defenses knows those spaghetti noodles he calls arms and legs have enough spring to fuel an admirable dunk-contest effort.
Porzingis is closing in on 35 percent shooting from downtown when squaring up off the catch and boasts a 40 percent clip when he's left wide open.
Facing off against a largely guard and human-sized wing population in the Skills Challenge doesn't even cheapen Porzingis' eligibility. He's more and more comfortable weaving in and out of traffic with the ball in his hands, and Robin Lopez will be the first one to let you know the New York Knicks rookie can, on occasion, thread needles better than a high-end tailor.
Why all the equivocation? Because Porzingis injured his right foot during the Knicks' Jan. 18 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Per ESPN.com's Ian Begley, though, Porzingis is expected to be fine.
So it looks like Griffin will need to find someone else to pal around with inside the Injured Players in Reclining Chairs Zone. (I'm sorry.)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant
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Picking between Durant and Westbrook is hard, until you realize that, in this context, it isn't.
They stand on equal footing when it comes to thunderous slams. Westbrook has the edge in post-jam facial expressions, but Durant has him in volume. Westbrook's assist percentage more than doubles Durant's, but that's more about the former playing the part of franchise point guard.
But Durant ends any and all discussions once we move on to shooting. He has an effective field-goal percentage—cumulative measurement of two- and three-point efficiency—of nearly 50 on pull-up opportunities. Westbrook's mark in those situations is almost seven points lower.
Where Durant is constantly flirting with 50/40/90 shooting slashes, Westbrook has never shot better than 30 percent from three or 85 percent from the free-throw line.
It's Durant, not Westbrook, who is combining to hit 42.7 percent of his relatively open and wide-open threes. It's Durant, not Westbrook, who has been to the three-point show.
And it's Durant, not Westbrook, who, if he retired now, would walk away with a top-10 true shooting percentage among every player to amass 15,000 career points. For perspective, consider that James ranks 22nd on said list.
Orlando Magic: Tobias Harris
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Victor Oladipo, unlike Porzingis, is not lucky enough to make his expected cameo.
The third-year combo guard is tending to a sprained knee and has just recently been tethered to the sidelines, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
Picturing a world in which Tobias Harris is an active participant of the Skills Challenge should bum you out. He can thrive with the rock in his hands, but he lacks the nuanced vision to make the required on-command passes.
Elfrid Payton's jumper remains broken in 60 different ways, so selecting him wasn't an option, and Evan Fournier is no more fit to battle guards and point forwards than Harris. And while Harris' assist rate is inferior to Fournier's, it is a new career high.
Mix in his Orlando Magic-pacing dunk numbers, along with his selective explosion and last year's three-point shooting, and he has this position down on lock—you know, at least until Aaron Gordon mimics Griffin's on-ball guile and/or Oladipo gets healthy.
Philadelphia 76ers: Robert Covington
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Robert Covington has found his mojo—according to Nerlens Noel.
"He definitely does have his swag back," Noel said, per Philly.com's Keith Pompey. "He came up big for us Thursday night against Chicago, that way he was stroking. That's what he does."
Since Jan. 1, Covington is shooting better than 43 percent on three-point attempts. For a unit such as the Sixers, who rank among the worst outside gunners in the league, it's like they actually deploy a knockoff Stephen Curry. Or something.
Richaun Holmes has Covington in the dunking department by a landslide. But Holmes cannot shoot, and Covington, as 2014-15 Andre Miller would attest, doesn't always show regard for human life.
Working his way through the Skills Challenge's obstacle course figures to be an issue. Covington isn't often asked to carry the ball-handling load and remains mostly untested as a pinpoint passer.
Nevertheless, he is Philly's most resourceful wing, both on and off the ball. He joins Leonard and Westbrook as one of three players averaging 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals per 36 minutes.
Presented with the caveat that Covington has played 440 minutes less than any of his statistical sibs: Oh. My. God.
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker
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Yes, rookie Devin Booker, who, at 19 years old, isn't yet old enough to legally celebrate a (rare) Phoenix Suns victory with a strawberry-garnished mimosa.
Is he here because Eric Bledsoe won't play again this season? For sure. Is this also because Brandon Knight's declining three-point percentage continues to make me sad? Partially.
Mostly, though, this is about Booker's fiery shooting, undervalued athleticism and playmaking potential. The kid is shooting 42-plus percent from three, obliterating opposing defenses off the catch and successfully mining for nylon 50 percent of the time whenever there isn't a defender within six feet of his release.
Booker is still waiting to throw down that "I'm here and not leaving anytime soon" slam, but he can get above the rim. He has almost as many dunks as Brandon Knight, and Kentucky head coach John Calipari will vouch for his lift.
Banking on him to make an impact in the Skills Challenge is the real gamble. His playmaking is a work in progress, and the Suns aren't counting on him as a primary ball-carrier. But he's shown flashes of being a Bradley Beal- and Klay Thompson-type wing—that No. 2 option who dabbles in the kind of offensive orchestration fit for a Skills Challenge nod.
Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard
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Damian Lillard made history in 2014 when he became the first player to compete in five All-Star weekend events, and we already know he can take over the Skills Challenge. He won in 2013 and then again in 2014, before bowing out of last year's battle on the heels of an All-Star snub that was eventually remedied.
We know he can dunk, and not just because the Slam Dunk Contest was one his five events in 2014. He has only a handful of rim-rockings to his name this season, but he's a perpetual ladder-climbing poster threat.
Most of all, we know that Lillard is a volume shooter—so much so that he borders on a chucker. He ranks second in total three-point attempts since entering league, trailing only Curry, the long-range overlord himself.
But, as Tom Ley recently laid out for Deadspin, this is all part of Lillard's curb appeal:
"Sure, there are going to be nights when Lillard shoots his team out of a game, but you have to respect a guy who watches Steph Curry, a real-life glitch in the game, and says to himself, “Yeah, I can do that, too.” It’s that confidence that allows Lillard to singlehandedly swing a game with a 17-point blitz, and those runs provide their own kind of fun. Curry’s the best show in the NBA, but his moments of brilliance are starting to feel pre-ordained; Lillard can still offer the thrill of a player reaching for the next level.
"
Lillard's 24 points and seven assists per 36 minutes have only ever been recorded once before—by none other than Stephen Curry.
Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins
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DeMarcus Cousins, point center, reporting for duty.
The Sacramento Kings have always depended upon Cousins to function as a towering playmaker, but his newly consistent three-point forays are accentuating his value.
Slam Dunk Contest participants are typically comfortable with facing up and putting the ball on the floor, and Cousins, now more than ever, is beginning his posterizations from outside the restricted area. His handles are tight and smooth enough to overwhelm preseason Anthony Davis, and he has always moved with the cultivated grace of a thewy guard.
Sacramento would rather send Omri Casspi or Seth Curry to the deep-ball affair, but Cousins is a heartbeat away from matching the NBA's average three-point percentage. And that's not insignificant given he's made roughly four times as many threes this season as he did through his first five years combined.
Incredible still, Cousins is on track to become the fourth player to ever average 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 assists per 36 minutes with at least 50 three-point makes—a truly insane touchstone that would forever link him to Charles Barkley, Larry Bird and Kevin Love.
San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard
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Who leads the Spurs in dunks?
Kawhi Leonard.
Who leads the Spurs in three-point accuracy?
Kawhi Leonard.
Who owns the lowest turnover percentage of any guard or forward in the NBA with a usage rate above 24 and assist rate higher than 12?
Kawhi Leonard.
Who is set to post the third-highest effective field-goal percentage among everyone in league history to average 20 points, 2.5 assists and two steals per 36 minutes?
Kawhi Leonard.
It's almost as if Leonard belongs here or something.
Toronto Raptors: DeMar DeRozan
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DeMar DeRozan is the no-brainer choice when it comes to the dunk competition. It's "been there, tried to win that" for him, and he's now a recurring guest star on How to Get Away With Murder: When Monster Smashes Aim to Kill.
DeRozan ranks second among Toronto's everyday rotation players in assist percentage and jump-starts pick-and-rolls like an extension of Kyle Lowry. And since neither Cory Joseph nor Lowry is winning any dunk-offs, DeRozan has them beat.
Throwing him onto the three-point-marksman red carpet is outright dangerous when you note that he's barely shooting 27 percent on outside looks for his career.
"I have no problem shooting threes," DeRozan said, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe. "I just feel like I can get to the basket at will, so it almost feels like settling. But I know I have to take them, so now I'm just gonna shoot it."
The NBA is changing, and so are DeRozan's three-point splits, even if only barely. He is putting around 40 percent of his wide-open triples through the net. That's up from 25 percent last season, and his volume in these situations has more than doubled.
Upticks even this marginal are enough to get DeRozan by in a contest that won't see him encounter a single defender.
Utah Jazz: Gordon Hayward
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At a time when point forwards are the NBA's rock stars, Gordon Hayward's deeply polished bag of offensive tricks generates an atypically negligible amount of shine.
Even if Dante Exum was healthy, Hayward would be the Utah Jazz's best point guard. He is better than Raul Neto at protecting the rock and more methodical than Trey Burke, a co-Skills Challenge champion in 2014, at breaking down defenses.
Sign Hayward up for the playmaker's sparring without hesitation.
Keep that momentum going into the three-point shootout as well. He leads the team in made three-pointers, and if his numbers hold, he'll be the first player in franchise history to drain 100 triples on 36 percent shooting more than twice.
The real question: Does a 25-year-old Hayward have the athletic gall to leave solid ground for a superhuman amount of time? JaKarr Sampson votes yes.
Washington Wizards: John Wall
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Expecting Bradley Beal? So was I.
John Wall's shooting was supposed to derail his eligibility. He leads the Washington Wizards in slams, won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2014 and would probably be banned from the Skills Challenge for excessive dominating if given a third crack at it. But his shaky—and that's putting it kindly—three-point form all but assured the sweet-shooting Beal would earn our pretend dap.
Except no one told Wall.
Washington's floor general has never been more dangerous from distance. He is shooting a career-best from three-point territory amid career-high volume and has been even better in 2016.
Since Jan. 1, he's connecting on 41 percent of his overall triples and more than 44 percent when there's no defender within four feet of the action. Assuming he keeps this up, Wall will join Paul as the only players over the last 20 years to average 20 points and nine assists per 36 minutes and make 35 percent of their treys.
Chris Paul with loaded springs for legs—that's the best comparison for 2015-16 John Wall. And there isn't an All-Star weekend showcase in which a loaded-springs version of Chris Paul shouldn't partake.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited and are accurate leading into games on Jan. 18.
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