NBA All-Star Game 2019: Predicting Team Rosters for Team LeBron, Team Giannis

The 2019 NBA All-Star Game will be played February 17 from Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Before the best in the game take the floor for the annual midseason exhibition, there's the matter of sorting out two rosters' worth of stars.

On Thursday night, the five players from each conference who were voted as starters were announced:

The roster construction will follow the same format as last season, with the leading vote-getter in each conference serving as a captain for a schoolyard, pick'em-style draft.

Let's take a crack at predicting how the draft will play out between Team LeBron and Team Giannis after James (4,620,804) narrowly edged out Antetokounmpo (4,375,747) for the honor of highest vote-getter overall, according to results from NBA.com, so he'll have the first pick in the All-Star draft.

First Pick (Team LeBron): Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant was taken first in the All-Star draft last year by LeBron, and there's no reason to think that won't be the case again this season.

Second Pick (Team Giannis): Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Curry was a captain last season, and he's the first guard taken this time around as he'll spread the floor for Giannis to slash to the basket.

Third Pick (Team LeBron): Paul George, Oklahoma City Thunder

With $100,000 on the line for the winning team, LeBron takes the leading candidate for Defensive Player of the Year with his second pick in an effort to slow things down in what promises to be a shootout.

Fourth Pick (Team Giannis): James Harden, Houston Rockets

It's tough to top a backcourt of Harden (36.3 PPG) and Curry (29.2 PPG), who rank first and third in the NBA in scoring, respectively.

Fifth Pick (Team LeBron): Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics

Sticking with the trend of doing what worked a year ago when Team LeBron won 148-145, James again takes his former teammate Irving with his third pick.

Sixth Pick (Team Giannis): Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors

The picks are already decided from here, as Team Giannis still needs two frontcourt players and Team LeBron needs another guard. 

Seventh Pick (Team LeBron): Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets

An All-Star for the third straight season, Walker is averaging a career-high 25.0 points for a Hornets team that is seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Eighth Pick (Team Giannis): Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

An All-Star starter for the first time, Embiid is averaging 27.2 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. It's safe to assume this would be the first time he's ever been picked last.

Tune in to TNT on February 7 to see if these predictions come true.