Head coach Gregg Popovich, of course, has been away from the team since early November after suffering a stroke. And while the blockbuster De’Aaron Fox trade earlier this month was a major positive, it has had a “destabilizing” effect on a club not accustomed to major in-season roster moves, Windhorst writes. Windhorst also describes the Spurs’ trip to France last month as “emotionally taxing.”

“This has been one long, crazy season,” a team source told ESPN.

The Spurs were 18-16 at one point, but have dropped 14 of 20 games since then. With a 24-30 record and Wembanyama lost for the season, their chances of earning a play-in spot are slim, while their odds of securing a top-10 pick in this year’s draft are on the rise.

In addition to holding their own first-round pick, the Spurs control the Hawks’ unprotected first-rounder. If the season ended today, those selections would be 10th and 11th in the lottery order, with a combined 5% chance of turning into the No. 1 overall pick, according to Tankathon.

Here’s more on the Spurs and Wembanyama:

• Wembanyama’s dominance helped to hide the team’s overall lack of frontcourt depth, which became worse when Zach Collins had to be sent to Chicago in the Fox deal, Michael C. Wright observes in an ESPN overview of the effects of losing Wembanyama. Wright expects Bismack Biyombo, who signed a second 10-day contract with San Antonio on Friday, to eventually receive a standard deal for the rest of the season. Wright also states that Fox, Chris Paul and Stephon Castle are likely to share the court more often in three-guard lineups.
• The Spurs got a taste of what life without Wembanyama might be like in Friday’s 15-point loss to the Pistons, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. They defeated Phoenix on Thursday, just hours after learning that Wembanyama was lost for the season, but Detroit presented a much tougher matchup with its combination of size and physicality. San Antonio was out-rebounded by a 53-32 margin and couldn’t match up with Pistons center Jalen Duren, who finished the night with 21 points and 15 rebounds. “We knew they’re a big, physical team,” Keldon Johnson said. “Knowing that we are a little bit smaller right now, we are a little bit lacking in size right now, that we got to do it collectively and stay locked in and as a unit we get the rebound.”
• Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff recognized the job that Mitch Johnson has done in keeping the team competitive after Popovich’s health scare, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Bickerstaff pointed out that not only is Johnson filling in for a legend, he took over the position with no warning or time to prepare. “You can tell by the way they play he’s got them to buy into him,” Bickerstaff added. “You watch how selfless they play, how they play together, how they compete their tails off. To me, those are the telltale signs of players believing in their coach. They’re organized on both sides of the ball. So you can tell day by day they’re getting the preparation they need to build what a team should look like. He’s done a phenomenal job.”

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), a deep vein thrombosis is a form of blood clot. San Antonio believes Wembanyama’s health scare is an “isolated condition,” Charania adds.

The Spurs are optimistic that Wembanyama will be fully recovered by the start of the 2025/26 campaign, a team source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News confirms that reporting, writing (via Bluesky) that the Spurs are “not worried” about Wembanyama’s long-term health. Wembanyama’s condition is not considered as serious as the blood clot issue that effectively ended Chris Bosh‘s career, according to Finger.

In their statement, the Spurs said that the issue was discovered after Wembanyama returned to San Antonio following Sunday’s All-Star game in San Francisco. NBA insider Chris Haynes hears (via Twitter) that the team was informed of Wembanyama’s condition today.

On Wednesday, the Spurs had listed Wembanyama as doubtful to suit up for Thursday’s contest vs. Phoenix due to an illness (ESPN.com story via MacMahon). The game will take place at the Moody Center in Austin, and Wembanyama was not present for shootaround this morning, per Finger (Bluesky link).

As Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com tweets, a deep vein thrombosis “is a clot that develops in one of the major veins of the body, usually in the lower extremity.” Brandon Ingram went through a similar issue while with the Lakers back in ’18/19, causing him to miss the final 19 games of that season. 

A source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic that Wembanyama has had low energy of late (Twitter link). When he was still experiencing low energy at All-Star weekend and his two-day vacation after the break, he underwent testing which revealed a DVT. Amick and Tom Orsborn of The Express-News are the latest reporters to confirm the Spurs are optimistic about Wembanyama’s long-term prognosis (Twitter link).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Wembanyama will no longer be eligible for major postseason awards due to the 65-game rule. The league’s reigning Rookie of the Year was the odds-on favorite to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award after finishing as the runner-up in ’23/24.

Obviously, this is terrible news for anyone who follows the sport, but particularly for Wembanyama, one of the NBA’s premier young players. Still, it’s at least encouraging that the Spurs seem confident that the issue was caught early and that 2023’s No. 1 overall pick will be ready to play again to open ’25/26.

In 46 games during his second season, Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals and a league-high 3.8 blocks in 33.2 minutes per contest. His shooting slash line was .476/.353/.836, with nearly half of the Frenchman’s field goal attempts coming from behind the three-point line.

Wembanyama’s absence will certainly decrease San Antonio’s odds of making a postseason push, but that’s obviously a secondary concern compared to his health. The Spurs have been a funk of late, going just 5-13 over their past 18 games. They’re currently 23-29, 3.5 games behind Golden State for the final play-in spot in the West.

So which stars might emerge as new trade candidates ahead of the 2025 offseason? Howard Beck of The Ringer said during a live episode of The Real Ones podcast over the weekend that one executive he spoke to about that subject offered up an interesting prediction.

“I’m constantly checking in with executives around (the) trade deadline about what we saw, what we didn’t see, what’s next,” Beck said (Twitter audio link). “And in this league, you are always, always, always on the lookout for who’s the next wave of stars that are going to get dealt, right? … And somebody out of the blue said, ‘Keep an eye on Ja [Morant] this summer.’

“… I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m not saying it should happen. I’m just saying it’s one of those things I’m just kind of keeping an eye on if they were to flame out (of the playoffs) early.”

At this point, the idea that Morant will emerge as a trade candidate seems more like wishful thinking on the part of an opposing executive than something likely to actually happen. The Grizzlies‘ star point guard is just 25 years old, is still under contract in Memphis for three more years beyond this season, and has stayed out of trouble off the court since being suspended twice in 2023 for wielding a gun in social media videos.

Still, in the wake of Dallas’ decision to deal Doncic, team executives will likely be loath to assume that any rival star is entirely untouchable.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

• The Mavericks haven’t shared an official update on Dwight Powell‘s health for over a week, but Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Twitter link) hears that the big man has been doing full workouts during the All-Star break. Powell, who has been out since January 17 due to a right hip strain, doesn’t typically play a significant role for the Mavs, but the team would love to have him available with frontcourt regulars Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and Anthony Davis all sidelined due to injuries of their own.
• Michael C. Wright of ESPN takes a behind-the-scenes look at Victor Wembanyama‘s first All-Star appearance, noting that the Spurs flew their massage therapist, physical therapist, and performance coach to San Francisco to run the big man through his usual pregame routine, since he wanted to win every event he was involved in. That included Saturday’s skills challenge, in which Wembanyama and teammate Chris Paul attempted to exploit a loophole and were ultimately disqualified. “I don’t regret it,” the first-time All-Star said of the scheme to intentionally miss their required shot attempts as quickly as possible. “I thought it was a good idea.”
• After a busy All-Star weekend, first-year Spurs guard Stephon Castle spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his experience in San Francisco, what he has learned from Paul, and what it’s like to play with Wembanyama, among other topics. Castle also expressed optimism about his ability to play alongside new San Antonio point guard De’Aaron Fox going forward. “I love playing with D-Fox,” the rookie told Spears. “He plays super-fast. That is how I like to play. Super unselfish. He can go get a bucket whenever you need him to. Yeah, he’s super cool and a great guy off the court, too.”

“I would love to. My opinion is that it’s more purposeful,” said Victor Wembanyama, who figures to be a regular at the All-Star Game for the next decade or so. “There’s more pride in it. More stakes.”

Nine-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was even more enthusiastic about the idea in his post-game press conference.

“I would love that. Oh, I would love that,” he said. “I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I’d take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.”

As Reynolds points out, the NHL has been able to generate enormous passion by scrapping its traditional All-Star format and replacing it with the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament. Saturday’s showdown between the U.S. and Canada in Montreal stoked an intense national rivalry and featured three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.

According to Reynolds, some NBA officials are watching the NHL’s success and considering how it could be adapted to basketball. There aren’t enough All-Star players from specific nations to divide them into four teams, but a matchup of American and international stars could create a fresh look for the annual showcase.

“Sometimes things just get old and kind of need a facelift,” Draymond Green said. “I know they’ve done different things to try to get it going. I think what’ll be interesting to see is how this 4 Nations thing turns out in hockey. If that turns out great, might have to peek an eye.”

Reynolds notes that this year’s rosters already feature six international All-Stars, with Wembanyama and Antetokounmpo joined by Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Pascal Siakam and Alperen Sengun. Luka Doncic would likely be there if not for the injuries have plagued him this season, and Reynolds points to Karl-Anthony Towns, who plays for the Dominican Republic in international competitions, as another addition.

However, filling out the World roster could mean adding a few players who aren’t as deserving of All-Star status. It would also take away four spots from American players, who make up roughly 70% of the NBA, which is why there’s reluctance to try it out.

“Not to say we couldn’t figure out a way around this, but to the extent we want to have a fair process for picking All-Stars, if you’re picking half the players from a 30% pool and the other half from a 70% pool, it might not be fair to the players,” commissioner Adam Silver said recently. “So, that’s one thing we’re looking at.”

“When I went in my yard, I liked to pretend I was KD (Kevin Durant), T-Mac (Tracy McGrady) or Kobe (Bryant),” Jackson said. “I just imagined being one of those superheroes on the court. I think this feeling is way better than how I imagined it, honestly. It’s more meaningful. It’s way more impactful. Especially when you have your family with you. You don’t think about all those other things and how many other people are going to be happy about this with you.”

The new All-Star format could give Jackson a chance to face two of his Grizzlies teammates Sunday night, Cole adds. Rookies Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey were both on the team that won Friday’s Rising Stars event. They’re not paired up with Jackson’s team in the semifinals, but they could meet in the final round if they both advance.

“I want to dunk on both of them,” Jackson said. “I can’t wait.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

• Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard were also in the Rising Stars tournament as the latest representatives of the Rockets, who’ve had at least one player involved every year since 2022, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. They were on opposite sides in one of Friday’s semifinals, as Thompson got the satisfaction of dunking on his teammate, but Sheppard’s squad came away with the victory. “The Rockets do a good job of getting young guys and making them better,” Sheppard said. “And Amen is an unbelievable talent, unbelievable guy. So being able to be out there with him today was a lot fun.”
• Rockets center Alperen Sengun, a first-time All-Star, credits coach Ime Udoka for pushing him and the team in the right direction, Lerner adds in a separate story. Udoka sped up the rebuilding process in Houston by leading the Rockets to a .500 finish last season, and he currently has them fourth in the West. “We were just going over there and just playing,” Sengun said at his All-Star press conference. “Then Ime just came and changed everything for us, and he teach us to how to win.”
• A lack of competitiveness has been a problem in recent All-Star Games, but that won’t be an issue for the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Wembanyama has become known for his desire to win at everything he does, and he’ll take that attitude into Sunday night. “I guess it’s maybe innate,” he said. “But it was definitely encouraged in our family’s culture around sport, of course. But I don’t know. I just feel lucky to have that will to stay true to myself.” Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified from tonight’s Skills Challenge for flouting the rules (Twitter video link).

Three-Point Contest:

• Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
• Cade Cunningham (Pistons)
• Darius Garland (Cavaliers)
• Tyler Herro (Heat)
• Buddy Hield (Warriors)
• Cameron Johnson (Nets)
• Damian Lillard (Bucks)
• Norman Powell (Clippers)

Among this year’s participants, Powell (43.1%), Garland (42.9%), and Johnson (41.7%) have been the most accurate three-point shooters so far this season, while Herro (39.3% on 9.7 attempts per game) has been the most prolific.

Lillard won the event in both 2023 and 2024 and will be looking to become the first player since Craig Hodges in 1992 to claim the three-point title for a third consecutive year. Larry Bird was also a three-time winner, having achieved the feat in the first three years the NBA held the event (1986-88).

Hield is the only other player in this year’s field to have won the contest before, having done so in 2020. The Warriors wing will be the home team’s representative next Saturday.

Skills Challenge:

• Team Cavs: Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley
• Team Rooks: Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks) and Alex Sarr (Wizards)
• Team Spurs: Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama
• Team Warriors: Draymond Green and Moses Moody

It appears the NBA will be tweaking the format of the skills challenge again in 2025, with the event set to feature four teams of two players apiece instead of three players per team.

Mobley was part of the Cavs team that won the event in 2022, along with Jarrett Allen and Garland. He’ll be teaming up with Mitchell this time around.

The NBA also officially confirmed the participants of the dunk contest earlier this week (Twitter link). Those four players, who had been previously reported, are Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, Bucks guard Andre Jackson, and Magic two-way guard Mac McClung.

Like Lillard in the three-point contest, McClung will be looking to three-peat in his event next Saturday night.

The players were previously sorted into groups of starters and reserves, but that had no bearing on their team placement for the new mini-tournament in this year’s game.

Below are each team’s selections, sorted in order of pick:

Team Shaq

• LeBron James, Lakers
• Stephen Curry, Warriors
• Anthony Davis, Mavericks
• Jayson Tatum, Celtics
• Kevin Durant, Suns
• Damian Lillard, Bucks
• James Harden, Clippers
• Jaylen Brown, Celtics

O’Neal had the first overall pick in the televised draft, selecting James, who holds the record for most All-Star appearances in a career. For the most part, O’Neal opted for the “old guard” of the NBA, so to speak. His team has a whopping 87 All-Star appearances (including this year) among its eight players.

The roster also unites a handful of players. Durant spent this week in trade rumors, with reports indicating he didn’t want to be traded to Curry’s Warriors. The two players were teammates for three seasons. This also will mark the first time James and Davis will play together since the blockbuster move that brought Doncic to L.A. Additionally, Curry, James, Durant, Tatum and Davis all played together on the 2024 U.S. men’s Olympic Team.

Team Kenny

• Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
• Jalen Brunson, Knicks
• Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies
• Jalen Williams, Thunder
• Darius Garland, Cavaliers
• Evan Mobley, Cavaliers
• Cade Cunningham, Pistons
• Tyler Herro, Heat

In contrast to O’Neal’s roster, Smith opted for some of the younger stars across the league. Smith’s team has a combined 13 All-Star nods to their name — Williams, Mobley, Cunningham and Herro are all first-timers. Smith united a pair of Cavaliers, with Mobley and Garland joining forces.

Team Chuck

• Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
• Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
• Pascal Siakam, Pacers
• Alperen Sengun, Rockets
• Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks
• Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers

Barkley went for a mix of experience in his group. He secured the top three expected players in the MVP race this season between Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Gilgeous-Alexander. He also landed Wembanyama with the 12th overall pick. Barkley’s group has a combined 35 All-Star honors, with Sengun and Wembanyama as first-time All-Stars and Antetkounmpo (nine) and Jokic (seven) leading the way.

A fourth team coached by Candace Parker will play in the tournament. She’ll be coaching whichever team wins this year’s Rising Stars Challenge — those rosters were announced earlier this week. Two teams will meet in a semifinal (game one) while the other two also play each other (game two). The winning team from each game moves on to the final round.

The four teams participating in the NBA All-Star Game will compete for a prize pool of $1.8 million. Each player on the team that wins the final will receive $125,000, while members of the second-place team earn $50,000. Players on the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $25,000.

“Absolutely not,” Doncic said.

Doncic’s agent, Bill Duffy, indicated he expected to discuss the super-max with Dallas’ brass.

“We were going to talk at the end of the season,” Duffy said, per another Townsend tweet.

Doncic is no longer eligible for the super-max since he was dealt.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

• Anthony Davis admits he was caught off-guard by the blockbuster trade that landed him in Dallas. “I was shocked,” Davis said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I had no idea. I had just sent the team a text about congratulations on the win against the Knicks, big win, and then looking forward to Tuesday’s game against the Clippers, as far as standing purposes. And then, found out like an hour later I was no longer with the team. I was in shock, obviously. Had no idea that it was happening. But, I mean, now I’m kind of over it, and just kind of getting ready to play with Dallas.” Davis had lobbied for the Lakers to acquire a center so he could spend more time at power forward. The Mavericks have Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively, which will allow Davis to play power forward regularly again. “Anytime that I’m out on the floor, I feel better. I haven’t played power forward in a long time with another big,” Davis said. “We saw some spurts in L.A. with Jaxson (Hayes), but to be back naturally at the four, I’m excited to see how it goes.”
• Spurs wing Devin Vassell sees a new offensive dimension with the addition of De’Aaron Fox, according to ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. He feels defenses will be confounded by the combination of Fox and Victor Wembanyama. “Who do you stop between those two?” Vassell said. “I think we’re going to play a lot faster and we’re going to be out in transition a lot. I think it’s just going to open up a lot with Fox being our point guard. Him and Wemby on the screen-and-roll? Then you have me and (Julian) Champagnie and certain shooters around. It’s going to be an exciting offense, and I think defensively we’re going to be able to get after people, too. I know Fox likes to pick up full court and kind of change the pace of the game. He’s going to help us on both ends.” Fox is listed as available for the Spurs’ game against Atlanta on Wednesday, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.
• In a subscriber-only story, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal details GG Jackson‘s breakout game against San Antonio and considers how Jackson’s ability to be a dynamic offense option impacts the Grizzlies going forward. The second-year forward, playing in his eighth game since returning from foot surgery, scored 27 points in 28 minutes.

“It’s been a long road,” Exum told Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. Just the work to get back to this point, it’s been a lot. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win (Friday). That would’ve been a nice icing on the cake. There’s still a lot of work to do. I got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, I can get back to my normal self as quick as possible.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

• Regarding the blockbuster trade, Exum believes the Mavericks can be a dynamic defensive team with the addition of Anthony Davis. Exum made his comments after Dallas was blown out by Cleveland on Sunday. “The best thing about AD – look at (Sunday), how (the Cavs) play two bigs,” Exum told Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “It’s a perfect example of how we can be – a defensive-minded team. And AD brings a lot of offense, a lot of rim protection, rebounding, everything. It’s going to be fun to jell and figure out how we’re going to be successful. I think we have all the potential in the world. AD has been saying for a while that he wants to play the four. He’s going to have two centers in and out behind him and P.J. (Washington) goes to his natural position at the three. Just looking at that, it makes it a tough frontcourt.”
• Dejounte Murray‘s season-ending injury was just the latest setback for the snake-bit Pelicans. Murray tore his Achilles tendon on Friday. Murray had already missed 17 games with a broken hand in his first season with New Orleans after being traded from Atlanta. “It’s difficult to watch and see him go down knowing all he’s been through so far,” coach Willie Green said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com. Green has started 25 different lineups in the team’s first 49 games due to a rash of injuries.
• The Spurs’ Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama will team up in the Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, NBA insider Chris Haynes tweets. Wembanyama also participated in the competition last season.

“It was the way we structured our rebuild,” Buford said. “It was a step-by-step process. We traded DeMar [DeRozan], we traded Derrick White, we traded Dejounte [Murray], we traded Jakob [Poeltl]. So, I mean, it was just a staged target over a period of several years.”

Wembanyama is well on his way to superstardom, and the story came full circle when the Spurs played in the center’s old stomping grounds in Paris last week.

“The lottery luck, the hoop gods were very good to us,” Buford said. “But the vision of a prospect like that was clearly impactful in the strategy of our rebuild.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

• The Mavericks were aggressive at the trade deadline last season, adding Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington to a team that ultimately made a run to the NBA Finals. This season, it’s harder to find deals that make sense for Dallas without sacrificing at a position of need. Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News takes a player-by-player look at the Mavericks’ situation, writing that while stars like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are obviously untouchable, players like Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy could theoretically be moved for a significant upgrade. Still, depth options like Grimes and Hardy have shown flashes that might make them more valuable to Dallas than elsewhere.
• Amen Thompson is continuing to develop into one of the league’s elite defenders in just his second season in the league. Now a full-time starter, Thompson is averaging 13.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. Kelly Iko of The Athletic spoke with Thompson in a recent interview, discussing his fit with the Rockets and changes to his game from last season to this one. “I can be positionless, yeah. I feel like I’m a point guard, but I can be any position you want me to be on the court,” Thompson said. “I feel like that’s such a good thing to have, you know? With Fred [VanVleet] and Jalen [Green] out there, I can be off the ball and thrive.“
• Ja Morant missed the Grizzlies‘ one-point win over Houston on Thursday due a shoulder injury. Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian opines in a subscriber-only story that there should be some worry about the star point guard, who has missed eight of the last 16 games.

“Trades, trade deadlines always get tricky,” Paul said. “I know enough GMs, coaches. A lot of them were my teammates and friends. Things can change. One minute, they’re not trying (to make a deal) and then they are. I done heard it all, trust me. So, control what you can control. Show up, do your job. And hopefully people deal with you respectfully. That’s all you can hope for.”

Acting coach Mitch Johnson is also concerned about how trade rumors will affect his players, many of whom have never dealt with that type of speculation before. He notes that social media makes trade rumors inescapable, especially when a high-profile player like Fox comes on the market.

Fourteen players will join the 10 starters announced last week in the All-Star Game in San Francisco on Feb. 16.

All-Star reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches. Here are the players who made the cut:

Eastern Conference reserves:

• Guard: Cade Cunningham, Pistons
• Guard: Damian Lillard, Bucks
• Guard: Darius Garland, Cavaliers
• Guard: Tyler Herro, Heat
• Frontcourt: Jaylen Brown, Celtics
• Frontcourt: Evan Mobley, Cavaliers
• Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam, Pacers

The East features three first-time All-Stars in Cunningham, Herro and Mobley. The guard spots in the East were highly contentious, with Atlanta’s Trae Young, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey among those also in the running. Ball finished first in fan voting, but that had no bearing on the coaches’ decisions.

The Cavaliers are well-represented in San Francisco, with Donovan Mitchell named a starter last week and Garland and Mobley now joining him. This is Garland’s second All-Star nod after being named in the 2021/22 season. Jarrett Allen also had a shot at a spot, but ultimately wasn’t voted in.

This is Jaylen Brown‘s fourth All-Star appearance, Lillard’s ninth, and Siakam’s third.

Western Conference reserves:

• Guard: Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
• Guard: James Harden, Clippers
• Frontcourt: Anthony Davis, Lakers
• Frontcourt: Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies
• Frontcourt: Alperen Sengun, Rockets
• Frontcourt: Jalen Williams, Thunder
• Frontcourt: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs

Wembanyama, Sengun and Williams are each first-time All-Stars. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Wembanyama has taken several steps forward to help the Spurs to a 20-24 record, putting them in contention for a play-in spot. Meanwhile, Sengun and Williams are key contributors for the top two seeds in the conference.

Edwards, in his third overall and consecutive appearance, is having a career year from beyond the arc, connecting on 41.8% of his 9.8 three-point attempts. We wrote earlier today about how the Grizzlies view Jackson as a bona fide star amid their 31-16 record this season.

Veterans Harden and Davis round out the West reserves. Harden, the most decorated reserve, is making his 11th appearance in the game while averaging 21.7 points and 8.4 assists per game in his age-35 season. Davis continues to be one of the premier defensive players in the league en route to earning his 10th All-Star nod. The Lakers big man is currently injured and out at least one week, but it’s unclear if that would affect his availability for the All-Star Game, which is still more than two weeks out.

Fresh off making the NBA Finals last season, the Mavericks won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game, with Luka Doncic injured and Kyrie Irving not earning a spot. The Kings’ Domantas Sabonis, the Clippers’ Norman Powell, the Suns’ Devin Booker and the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox were among those who were not named to the team.

The following players made the cut, as voted on by NBA assistant coaches (rookies and sophomores) and selected by the league office (G Leaguers):

Rookies

• Carlton Carrington (Wizards)
• Stephon Castle (Spurs)
• Tristan Da Silva (Magic)
• Zach Edey (Grizzlies)
• Dalton Knecht (Lakers)
• Jared McCain (Sixers)
• Yves Missi (Pelicans)
• Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks)
• Alex Sarr (Wizards)
• Jaylen Wells (Grizzlies)

Sophomores

• Bilal Coulibaly (Wizards)
• Gradey Dick (Raptors)
• Keyonte George (Jazz)
• Scoot Henderson (Trail Blazers)
• Trayce Jackson-Davis (Warriors)
• Jaime Jaquez (Heat)
• Dereck Lively II (Mavericks)
• Brandon Miller (Hornets)
• Amen Thompson (Rockets)
• Cason Wallace (Thunder)
• Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)

G League Players

• JD Davison (Maine Celtics) *
• Mac McClung (Osceola Magic) *
• Bryce McGowens (Rip City Remix) *
• Leonard Miller (Iowa Wolves) *
• Dink Pate (Mexico City Capitanes)
• Reed Sheppard (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) *
• Pat Spencer (Santa Cruz Warriors) *

* Note: Players marked with asterisks are on standard or two-way contracts with NBA teams.

As usual, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, while the other 21 players will be drafted to three squads on February 4.

The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.

All three contests will take place on Friday, February 14 as part of All-Star weekend’s opening night. The winning team will compete on Sunday in a similar four-team tournament, with the three other rosters made up of NBA All-Stars.

A handful of injury replacements will be necessary, with McCain, Lively, and Brandon Miller among the players who won’t be available to suit up. Additionally, since players selected as All-Stars won’t play in the Rising Stars event, Wembanyama will almost certainly need to be replaced.

“I just want to underline that this week was amazing,” Wembanyama said as he fought back tears during a post-game session with the media. “Everybody did their job to make this week incredible. All of this contributes to making our sport better and making me happy.”

Wembanyama did his best to entertain the French fans, posting 20 points and 12 rebounds today after racking up 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks on Thursday. He also got to share some tourist sites in Paris with his teammates. It may be a while before it happens again, as Vardon hears from league sources that the NBA is considering other cities for its European games next season.

“I’m sure at some point he’ll look back on this and realize what a treat it was,” Chris Paul said. “We wish we could have won both games for him, but you guys are going to be lucky for a long time to be able to follow Vic. So you guys make sure you not only take care of him, but treasure him.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

• Memphis has been mentioned as the one city that Heat forward Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to get traded to, but Grizzlies players don’t feel slighted if that’s true, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. The players who talked to Cole said they enjoy playing in Memphis, even if outsiders don’t understand why. “I guess the city isn’t like Miami or nothing or isn’t like Phoenix or isn’t like a big city that free agents want to go to,” Brandon Clarke said. “I completely get that. That’s just up to them. I obviously don’t really understand it because this is all I know. I like it here. I love it here.”
• Cam Whitmore has become a productive scorer off the Rockets‘ bench, but he had to fix his defensive issues before getting regular playing time, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Coach Ime Udoka said Whitmore has improved his “awareness” and “recognition” in his second NBA season, and Whitmore agrees. “I just had to be locked in for real,” Whitmore said. “Sometimes I’m in la-la land a little bit, but that’s just on me. I owe it all to my (lack of) effort and laziness, but effort is free. It’s just something I had to do, dial in on it a little bit more and try to get on the floor with that.”
• Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray will undergo X-rays on his right hand after missing tonight’s game with a sprained index finger, tweets Andrew Lopez of Pelicans.com.