Who Got Snubbed From The NBA’s All-Star Teams?

After spending two full seasons working to get his body right, Joel Embiid has taken the NBA by storm and is in line to be one of the next generation’s most dominating players. Even with a minutes restriction and numerous rest days, Embiid is head and shoulders above his rookie contemporaries, and he’s on pace to become the eighth rookie to average 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Six of those guys are Hall of Famers, and the seventh is Tim Duncan.

There just aren’t that many bigs playing as well as he is, and he’s routinely been a game-changer on both sides of the floor. Offensively, he’s incredibly versatile. Embiid’s footwork in the low post is great, and he’s drawn numerous comparisons to Hakeem Olajuwon because both have remarkable agility for seven-footers.

He’s also embraced the unicorn style of play, and Embiid isn’t hesitant to fire away from outside. Despite cooling off significantly over the last couple of weeks, Embiid’s still shooting about 35 percent (34.8) from three, and he’s the only consistent threat on Philly’s dreadful offense.

On defense, it’s a different ballgame. The Sixers are an outstanding unit defensively, and having Embiid as their anchor makes them so much better. Since the start of January, Philadelphia has a top-three defense, and Embiid is holding opponents to 29.5 percent shooting. Twenty-nine point five. Millsap, the player I picked as the Defensive Player of the Year last year, has struggled on that end of the floor, and his foes nail 48.2 percent of their attempts.

If Embiid continues at this pace, he’ll be someone we’ll be seeing in All-Star games for years to come.

The West has five frontcourt players. Why? I’m not sure, and it’s even more confounding because there’s three on the opposite coast. Because of this, Jordan is the odd man out, and it’s undeniable that Lillard is more impactful year than DJ.

Granted, the Trail Blazers are nearing dumpster fire territory, but, without Lillard, they’d be the worst team in the league. However, All-Star selections aren’t about team performances, and Lillard has proven to be one of the top all-around players in his conference, believe it or not. Russell Westbrook (31.0) and James Harden (28.6) are the only two guards scoring more than him out West, and Lillard is tied for seventh overall in that department with 26.2 points a night.

Furthermore, that trio of guards are the only three players averaging at least 26 points, five assists and four rebounds a game this year, according to Basketball-Reference.com.

Lillard has also upped his efficiency from last season. His field goal percentage overall increased to 44.4 percent from 41.9 last season, and that’s with a more inaccurate long ball. Last year, Dame was one of the league’s most lethal marksman, and he buried more than 37 percent of his threes. This year, that clip is down to 34.1, but he’s countered it with improvements around the basket and from mid-range — on twos, Lillard’s at 50.6 percent after just 45 in 2015-16.

It’s his second consecutive snub, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll see an angry Lillard.

If you don’t believe that Lillard should replace DJ, then Paul can. Conversely, if you feel like Dame deserved it, then CP3 replaces Thompson.

When you look at them, Paul’s numbers have taken a dip. He’s scoring just 17.5 points and handing out 9.7 dimes a night, which is a bit far off from the 19-and-11 guy we’ve gotten used to. What’s also down are his minutes, and Paul is averaging about 31 (30.9) a night, the fewest ever in his career.

Since he landed with the Clippers, the team has done a great job reducing his minutes. Paul used to average 37.1 minutes a night with the Hornets and that number is down to 34.1 with Los Angeles, and his production is still the same. He’s still one of the league’s best point guards overall, and he’s also maintaining his two-way stardom.

Per 36 minutes stats may not be the best way to judge production, but it’s objective and puts everything on a level playing field. If you look at those numbers, this is the best season Paul’s ever had. He’s boasting career-bests in rebounds (6.2) and assists (11.3) and is adding 2.6 steals and 20.4 points to it.

Also, would it be wrong to say that Paul helped make Jordan an All-Star? Just some food for thought.