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2021 NBA All-Star Reserves Revealed

February 23rd, 2021 at 6:16pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The 2021 NBA All-Star reserves have been revealed. Below is the full rundown of the 14 players scheduled to join the previously announced 10 starters for the March 7 contest in Atlanta. All-Star reserves are selected by the league’s head coaches.

Eastern Conference Reserves:

Notable omissions this season include recent Heat All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, two-time Bucks All-Star Khris Middleton, recent Hawks All-Star point guard Trae Young, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet, recent Pacers All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis, and Sixers forward Tobias Harris.

Brown, LaVine, and Randle are making their All-Star debuts. Harden is the most decorated among the All-Star vets among the East reserves, as he will be appearing in his ninth All-Star contest.

Western Conference Reserves:

Lillard, who just barely missed out on a starting nod to Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, earns his sixth All-Star mention as he mounts a sleeper MVP campaign with the Trail Blazers. Paul will be playing in his 11th All-Star game, for a fourth different team (he did not earn an All-Star nod in either of his two Rockets seasons, but made it with the Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, and Thunder).

Snubs in the West include recent Suns All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker, Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan, and 33-year-old Jazz point guard Mike Conley, the latter of whom may go down in history as the best NBA player never to make an All-Star team. Williamson, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft, is a first-time All-Star. Last year, his teammate Brandon Ingram made his own All-Star debut.

Conley may still have his day in the sun, however. Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register notes that Lakers All-Star big man Davis, recovering from a right calf strain, will likely not be healthy in time to partake in the currently-planned All-Star game, and thus another Western Conference All-Star should eventually be named by NBA commissioner Adam Silver to replace the eight-time All-Star.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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And-Ones: McDonald’s Game, ASG, M. Jackson, S. Kidd

February 19th, 2021 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The McDonald’s All American Game for top high school basketball prospects has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic for a second straight year, as Shane Laflin of ESPN writes. McDonald’s will still announce its 48-player roster for 2021 (24 boys and 24 girls) later this month and will virtually honor the class, Laflin notes.

The event has served over the years as a showcase for future impact NBA players. The league’s five most recent No. 1 picks – Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, and Anthony Edwards – are among the many future NBAers who have been named to the rosters for the McDonald’s All American Game since 2015 alone.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Defending the NBA’s decision to hold an All-Star Game this season, commissioner Adam Silver said on ESPN’s The Jump that the league also faced criticism for resuming play last summer in the bubble and for beginning its new season in December amid the coronavirus pandemic. “It seems like no decisions during this pandemic come without uncertainty and come without risk,” Silver said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “This is yet another one of them, and yet it’s my job to balance all those interests and ultimately it feels like the right thing to do to go forward.”
  • Former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson remains interested in coaching in the NBA, but said during an appearance on The Boardroom: Out of Office Podcast that he believes the “narrative” surrounding his time in Golden State has contributed to limiting his opportunities. Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News has the story, including some quotes from Jackson.
  • Former Colorado State forward Stanton Kidd, who appeared in four games for the Jazz during the 2019/20 season, has signed with Hapoel Jerusalem through the end of this season, the Israeli team announced in a press release. Kidd, waived by Utah in November 2019, had been playing for OGM Ormanspor in Turkey before making the move to Israel.
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Southeast Notes: Magic, Hornets, Drummond, All-Star Game

February 19th, 2021 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

While the Magic‘s roster has been decimated by injuries this season, no pre-deadline fire sale appears imminent. League sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe that Orlando has been “projecting patience and optimism” about bringing their core players back next season, with Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz due back from major knee injuries.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the Magic will stand pat entirely at this season’s deadline. Lowe suggests that the team might be open to a deal involving Evan Fournier, whose contract will expire this summer, but he stresses that’s just his speculation.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

  • In an effort to find a logical landing spot for Cavaliers center Andre Drummond, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic says the Hornets make sense as a potential trade partner for Cleveland. Drummond’s $28.7MM salary is tricky to match, but Charlotte could get most of the way there by using Cody Zeller‘s expiring $15.4MM contract, according to Vecenie, who notes that adding Malik Monk‘s and Bismack Biyombo‘s expiring deals would result in enough outgoing salary.
  • After having a pair of games postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing and having been unable to conduct more than individual workouts this week, the Hornets anticipate being cleared to practice by late Friday afternoon, tweets Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. For now, the Hornets’ Saturday game vs. Golden State remains on the schedule as planned.
  • In explaining how the Hawks ended up hosting this year’s All-Star Game, team CEO Steve Koonin pointed to Turner Sports as a driving force behind the decision. “TNT has the All-Star game, it’s one of their marquee events, and by doing it in Atlanta, this allows Turner to not have to travel hundreds of people to another site,” Koonin explained, per Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “So there wasn’t a competition, there wasn’t an application process, there wasn’t a bid process, this was literally select by the NBA, Turner, and then asked if our building was available, which of course we’re going to make available to our partners.”
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2021 NBA All-Star Game Starters Revealed

February 18th, 2021 at 6:22pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has revealed its 2021 All-Star Game starters. Here are those names:

Eastern Conference

After missing all of the 2019/20 season while he recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Durant is making his triumphant return to the All-Star Game. In his first appearance as a Brooklyn player, the 11-time All-Star will captain a team, having led the Eastern Conference in fan votes.

[RELATED: Community Shootaround: Eastern All-Stars]

This is the seventh All-Star appearance for Durant’s teammate Irving. Antetokounmpo, the reigning two-time MVP, has just made his fifth All-Star game. A frontrunner for the 2021 MVP award, Embiid is appearing in his fourth such contest. Beal will be making his first All-Star start after playing as a reserve in the 2018 and 2019 All-Star contests. The Wizards are the No. 13 seed in the East.

Western Conference

James, who was the top vote-getter in the Western Conference and the entire NBA with 5,922,554 fan votes, will again be a team captain. He will be suiting up for his 17th All-Star appearance, the third-most ever behind only fellow Laker legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19 appearances) and Kobe Bryant (18). James was previously tied for making the third-most cumulative All-Star contests alongside Hall of Fame Nets and Sixers wing Julius Erving, who was selected into five ABA All-Star games and 11 NBA All-Star games.

Jokic, an early top MVP contender along with James and Embiid, will earn his first All-Star start in his third appearance in the game. Curry will partake in his seventh All-Star contest, while Leonard has just been voted into his fifth All-Star game.

[RELATED: Community Shootaround: Western All-Stars]

Doncic barely edged out Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard to be the second All-Star guard next to Curry among the starters, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Despite extended absences from starters CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, and Zach Collins, the Blazers boast an 18-10 record, good for the No. 4 seed in the crowded West, largely thanks to Lillard. The Mavericks, meanwhile, are 13-15, the No. 10 seed in the West.

As was the case during the last two years, the top vote-getters of each conference will captain a team, and will be able to draft players from either conference. The “Elam Ending,” which made the conclusion of last year’s game much more entertaining than it had been in recent years, is set to return again this year.

Earlier today, the league officially announced that the 2021 All-Star Game is set to take place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, as a one-night event on March 7. The evening will also include its three All-Star weekend mainstay events: the Skills Competition, the Three-Point Contest and the Dunk Contest.

A full list of fan voting totals is viewable at this Twitter link, courtesy of Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The complete voting breakdown by position and conference, including media and player votes, can be found at the bottom of this press release.

The league will announce the 14 players who will comprise the All-Star reserves on Tuesday, February 22, at 7 p.m. ET, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter).

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NBA Officially Announces 2021 All-Star Plans

February 18th, 2021 at 12:48pm CST by JD Shaw

The NBA has officially announced its plans to host an All-Star game on Sunday, March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, with the league’s global celebration set to commence on one night for the first time in history.

Along with the All-Star Game, which starts at 8:00 pm ET, the league also announced plans to host the Skills Competition and Three-Point Contest at 6:30 pm ET, along with its annual Dunk Contest at halftime.

As part of the events, the NBA is committing more than $2.5MM in funds and resources toward Historically Black Colleges and Universities, plus support and awareness around equity and access to COVID-19 care, relief and vaccines, the league said.

The All-Star game will follow the same format as last year’s game. The two captains — along with the starters for the contest — will be announced Thursday night on TNT. While subject to change, Lakers forward LeBron James and Nets forward Kevin Durant are currently in line to become this year’s captains, as both players have been leading their conferences in fan voting.

The “Elam Ending,” which was introduced in last year’s game, will be back for this year’s event. As was the case in 2020, the target score will be determined by adding 24 points to the winning teams total after three quarters, to honor the late Kobe Bryant.

Several prominent NBA players have pushed back against the idea of holding an All-Star Game at all amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the league believes it can be held safely and has established additional measures on top of its usual health and safety protocols. A “mini-bubble” will be created to help ensure participants’ safety, which includes enhanced PCR testing and private travel. No fan activities will be held in light of the pandemic.

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And-Ones: Vaccine, All-Star Game, Trade Candidates

February 18th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

A number of the NBA’s top players have expressed reluctance to promote the coronavirus vaccine in league-sponsored public service announcements, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Some players are wary of receiving the vaccine themselves, apprehensions which are consistent with those in Black communities around the country, Wojnarowski notes.

There are other factors contributing to the “tepid” response to the NBA’s vaccine PSA efforts, according to Woj, who points out that many players are unenthusiastic about doing any favors on behalf of the NBA as the league puts its “largely unpopular” plans for an All-Star Game into motion.

While commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly stated that the NBA won’t “jump the line” for the vaccine, he told general managers on a call on Tuesday that vaccinations for players could be available as soon as late March or early April, per Wojnarowski. Silver also suggested on that call that the NBA may encourage vaccinations – and participation in its PSAs – by loosening the health and safety protocols for those who receive it, sources tell ESPN.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • As has been the case in recent years, the NBA will once again have the top vote-getters for the All-Star Game become team captains and get them to draft their own rosters from the pool of 22 remaining All-Stars, Tim Bontemps of ESPN confirms. Bontemps adds that there’s a chance the “Elam Ending” format could return, given how successful it was last year, but says that hasn’t been officially decided yet.
  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report identifies six young players who he believes would benefit from a change of scenery and should be on the trade block. Magic center Mohamed Bamba, Celtics guard Carsen Edwards, and a pair of Knicks (Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina) are among those on Wasserman’s list.
  • In an Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks previews the trade deadline for all 30 NBA teams, examining each club’s most valuable assets, cap situation, and how it should be approaching the trade market.
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Community Shootaround: Eastern All-Stars

February 18th, 2021 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

Before the NBA announces its 2021 All-Star starters on Thursday night on TNT, we want to get your thoughts on which players deserve to make the All-Star teams this season. After focusing on the Western Conference on Wednesday, we’re turning our attention to the Eastern Conference today.

There likely won’t be much debate over the Eastern frontcourt starters, as Sixers center Joel Embiid, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nets forward Kevin Durant are all playing like legitimate MVP candidates. Durant has been limited to just 19 games due to various health issues and COVID-19 protocols, but I think that’s enough — he has played big minutes (35.7 MPG) in those contests.

The Eastern backcourt starters are harder to nail down. You could make a legitimate argument for Nets guards James Harden and Kyrie Irving, Wizards guard Bradley Beal, and Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown. Beal is the NBA’s leading scorer and Irving isn’t far behind, but I actually favor Brown and Harden for the starting spots here.

Brown is the best defender of the group, and his scoring numbers (25.9 PPG on .506/.409/.768 shooting and a 31.4% usage rate) have been terrific. Harden, meanwhile, has been arguably the league’s best play-maker so far this season, averaging an eye-popping 11.8 assists per game to go along with his 24.3 PPG since arriving in Brooklyn.

All four guards belong in the game, so that leaves three frontcourt spots and two wild card slots to fill out the bench. I’d start with Tatum, a two-way star who is averaging career highs in PPG (25.8), RPG (7.0), and APG (4.7) to go along with his stout defense for the Celtics.

From here though, thinks get awfully tricky. Hawks guard Trae Young and Bulls guard Zach LaVine aren’t good defenders, but they’re enjoying elite offensive seasons. Young (26.5 PPG, 9.3 APG) has been the better play-maker, while LaVine has scored a little more, and has done so far more efficiently (28.5 PPG on .520/.437/.847 shooting). Both are strong candidates.

The fourth-seeded Pacers probably deserve to have a player in the game, and you could make a legitimate case for either Domantas Sabonis (21.5 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 5.7 APG) or Malcolm Brogdon (21.6 PPG and 6.6 APG).

Big men Bam Adebayo, Nikola Vucevic, and Julius Randle have been the most valuable players so far this season for the Heat, Magic, and Knicks, respectively. Adebayo anchors his team’s defense in a way the other two don’t, though his offensive numbers (19.9 PPG, 5.3 APG) don’t quite match Vucevic’s (23.4 PPG on .476/.414/.816 shooting) or Randle’s (23.2 PPG and 5.5 APG with a .407 3PT%).

Bucks forward Khris Middleton, Hornets forward Gordon Hayward, Pistons forward Jerami Grant, and Sixers guard Ben Simmons also deserve serious consideration as two-way impact players.

And while they probably won’t make the 12-man squad, Raptors guards Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet, Sixers forward Tobias Harris, Hawks big man Clint Capela, Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, Heat forward Jimmy Butler, and Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton each at least warrant a look and an honorable mention.

For now, my choices to fill out the Eastern squad would be LaVine, Young, Adebayo, and Middleton. LaVine is the East’s second-leading scorer; Young isn’t far behind him and his on/off-court numbers make a compelling case; Adebayo is one of the conference’s best interior defenders; and Middleton has been one of the NBA’s best shooters (.510/.442/.902).

Still, there are at least four or five other players whom I could comfortably sub into one of those spots and feel good about it. Leaving out guys like Randle, Grant, Simmons, and especially Sabonis (my last man out) is tough.

What do you think? Which 12 players would you pick for your Eastern Conference All-Star team? Which players would be the most difficult to omit?

Head to the comment section below to share your choices and your reasoning!

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Northwest Notes: Diallo, KAT/D-Lo, MPJ, Lillard

February 17th, 2021 at 9:15pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Thunder wing Hamidou Diallo has displayed such improvement this season that he could be a leading candidate for Most Improved Player honors, argues Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoman.

Diallo’s output has dramatically increased across the board. The third-year swingman out of Kentucky is averaging career-highs in points (12.7), rebounds (5.5), assists (2.4), field goal percentage (48.9%) and minutes (24.2) for a chippy Thunder squad. “I would say the biggest thing is just opportunity,” he said of his progress this year. “Sometimes, when you have opportunity and you have people around you that believe in you, it just makes the game much easier.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • A variety of health and injury problems have conspired to limit marquee Timberwolves players Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell to just five games together since Minnesota acquired Russell last season. Towns recently vented his frustration, as Chris Hine of the Star Tribune details. “Obviously we want to play with each other,” Towns said. “I finally come back [from a COVID-19 absence] and now he’s out [with a knee injury], so he was emotional too because it’s been bothering him, wanting to play together.” Britt Robson of The Athletic wonders if the Towns-Russell tandem, light on defense, will live up to fan expectations once it finally does appear more consistently.
  • Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has shown off his impressive scoring abilities this season, but his defensive flaws (especially at the rim) are clear too, writes Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated. Porter, 22, is averaging 13.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.2 BPG and 1.0 SPG this season. He is also shooting well, with a slash line of .475/.379/.786.
  • Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard is set to compete three-point shooting contest at this year’s Atlanta All-Star Game, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes notes that Lillard currently ranks third in the league when it comes to made three-pointers this season. Lillard’s 105 made triples rank behind only Buddy Hield (106) and Stephen Curry (140).
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Community Shootaround: Western All-Stars

February 17th, 2021 at 1:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Voting for the NBA’s All-Star starters has now closed, and the league will reveal on TNT on Thursday night the 10 players who have been named starters for this year’s game, with an announcement on the All-Star reserves to follow next Tuesday.

Before that happens, we want to get your take on which 24 players deserve to make this year’s All-Star Game, starting today in the Western Conference.

This year’s Western Conference All-Stars, who will be represented by Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN, have six clear frontrunners for the five starting spots.

Lakers star LeBron James, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard are the odds-on favorites to claim the three frontcourt openings, while Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic will vie for the two backcourt spots.

While it remains to be seen which five players will earn starting spots, it’s safe to say that all six will safely make the team. That leaves six other spots up for grabs.

The general consensus among Marc Stein of The New York Times, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, and Josh Robbins of The Athletic – all of whom made their picks this week – is that four of those spots will be claimed by Anthony Davis, Paul George, and the Jazz duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, which would make sense, given those players’ importance to the top three clubs in the conference.

After that, there’s little consensus. Stein and Robbins have Jazz guard Mike Conley nabbing one of the last two spots, while Stein and O’Connor each penciled in Suns guard Chris Paul. O’Connor also has Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making his team, while Robbins opted for Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan.

Suns guard Devin Booker, Pelicans forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Rockets big man Christian Wood, and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant all merited consideration and/or honorable mention from Stein, O’Connor, and Robbins. Beyond that, it’s hard to find legitimate candidates whose cases haven’t been hurt by injuries or COVID-19, as is the case for Blazers guard CJ McCollum, among others.

Following the format of four guards, six frontcourt players, and two wild cards, my picks would be Curry, Doncic, LeBron, Jokic, and Kawhi in the starting lineup, with Lillard, Mitchell, Davis, George, Gobert, Paul, and DeRozan on the bench. If Davis remains sidelined through the All-Star break due to his calf injury, picking a frontcourt player to replace him would be tricky, but for now I’d lean toward Williamson.

What do you think? Which 12 Western Conference players would be on your All-Star squad for the 2020/21 season?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

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And-Ones: Newly-Scheduled Games, AmeriCup, All-Star Game

February 16th, 2021 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of a series of postponements related to both COVID-19 and severe weather in Texas, the NBA is adding a pair of new games to its schedule for this week. The Nuggets and Cavaliers will play in Cleveland on Friday, according to an official announcement. Meanwhile, the Bulls will host the Pistons on Wednesday in Chicago, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Bulls were initially scheduled to play in Charlotte on Wednesday, while the Pistons were supposed to play in Dallas. However, the Hornets were affected by coronavirus contact tracing and the Mavs are dealing with a weather-related state of emergency in the area, so Chicago and Detroit will instead play each other.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets had been scheduled to play in Charlotte on Friday night, but that Hornets game has been postponed as well due to contact tracing. The Cavaliers, whose Wednesday contest vs. San Antonio was postponed, were scheduled to be inactive until Sunday, so a Friday game easily fits into their schedule.

Neither new game is a makeup of an earlier postponement, but playing those games this week will allow the NBA to avoid having to schedule them in the second half.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran NBA forward Brandon Bass has joined Team USA’s roster for the upcoming FIBA AmeriCup qualifying games in Puerto Rico, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Meanwhile, Canada’s roster for those qualifiers is headlined by former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).
  • In the wake of Jalen Johnson‘s decision to forgo the rest of the NCAA season and enter the draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) and Sam Vecenie and Brendan Marks of The Athletic examine the implications of the Duke freshman’s opt-out. Givony hears from sources that a foot injury Johnson suffered in mid-December never fully healed and still isn’t 100% — sitting the rest of the season should give the projected lottery pick an opportunity to get healthy.
  • Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has issued a statement asking fans not to travel to Atlanta for this year’s All-Star Game, which won’t be a ticketed event, writes Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Although the game won’t be open to the general public, some family members of All-Stars, local health-care workers, and students and staff members from local HBCUs are expected to be in the arena, according to Spencer, who estimates an attendance of about 1,200 to 1,500 people.
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