Predicting the NBA All-Star game roster for 2018-19 Season
Get ready to vote Boys and Girls! The NBA announced just a couple of days back that the All-Star game voting will indeed begin on December 25th. As usual, fan voting will account for 50% of the votes for the starters while the coaches and players get the remaining 50%. \
With the voting just around the corner, we decided to predict who will make it to the grand stage on February 17th in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Western Conference Backcourt
Stephen Curry
Steph Curry is a lock to start his 6th straight All-Star game. He's probably having the second-best season of his career and is a prime MVP candidate especially considering the drop off in Golden State without him.
He's currently averaging 28.8 Points and 5.5 Assists on the season while being on pace for yet another 50-40-90 campaign. Curry led the West in fan voting last season but might drop down to second this season with LeBron's arrival.
James Harden
The Rockets have had a very disappointing start to the season, but James Harden is not to be blamed for that. The Reigning MVP is posting identical numbers as compared to last season and his scoring has actually gone up to 31.5 Points per game.
Harden has also been on a tear-off late and is willing the Rockets to victory almost by himself. While the Rockets have disappointed, they're only 2.5 games behind the 4th seeded Lakers and if they can continue on their 4 game winning streak, Harden might well end up starting in the All-Star game.
Russell Westbrook
He may not be having another otherworldly season, but Russ is again averaging a triple-double this campaign. He missed some time with an injury at the start of the season and that does seem to have affected him a bit.
Westbrook is averaging just 20 points per game, his lowest since his second year in the league, but he's still a lock to make the All-Star roster especially with the way the Thunder are playing this season.
Damian Lillard
The Blazers have been up and down this season, but there has been one constant and that is Damian Lillard.
Lillard is averaging career highs in Scoring at 27.3 points a game and rebounding at 5 a game while the Blazers currently possess the 5th seed in the West. As things stand, Lillard is a lock to make the roster as the 4th Guard.
Klay Thompson
I believe Klay Thompson will be the 1st Wildcard entry. Klay is averaging 22 Points a game for the 2nd seeded Warriors while still playing excellent wing defense. He's also bettered his 2017-18 season in every mark except assists and shooting percentage with the latter being a slight concern.
Klay should make his 5th straight All-Star game despite the efficiency issues as team record does play a part when the head coaches decide who gets into the wildcard slots.
Mike Conley Jr
If someone had told me that I'd have Mike Conley Jr in the All-Star game before the season, I would have probably laughed at their face. The veteran guard should finally make his All-Star game debut this season as the Grizzlies are in playoff contention and he's averaging 20.5 Points to go along with 6.5 Assists per game.
It also helps that Jimmy Butler has been shipped off to the East and that the likes of the Donovon Mitchell haven't really taken off. Conley has been snubbed for far too long and I think they're finally going to let him in.
Before we move on, I'd like to give a shout out to Jrue Holiday who's also having an excellent season and just about misses out.