The NBA All-Star reserves had two very deserving players missing
The All Star Reserves were announced last Thursday night and two players who clearly deserved it were snubbed for Khris Middleton
Advanced Statistics used in this article are from Statmuse.com, ESPN.com, and NBA.com and are accurate as of the morning of Monday, February 7th.
The NBA All-Star reserves were announced last Thursday night, and although many deserving players got the nod, a couple of players were missing that should have been some of the first players the committee of coaches and media members selected. Their names are LaMelo Ball and Jarrett Allen.
Before I go into why at least one of these two should have been selected, it is important to understand that LaMelo Ball will likely replace Kevin Durant as a replacement anyways. Nonetheless, Khris Middleton and Jayson Tatum made it over Ball and Allen. Tatum isn’t a bad selection with the numbers he has been putting up over the past couple of weeks (averaging close to 30 PPG during that time frame), but I still would have picked Jaylen Brown who has been way more consistent on both ends of the floor than Tatum this season.
Regardless, one of the Celtics’ stars was going to make it anyways, so the one that got snubbed (in this case Brown) is further down on my list of the next deserving players, since I believe that LaMelo Ball and Jarrett Allen both deserve to be All-Stars over Tatum and Brown anyways. Tatum is far too talented and deserving to dispute warranting a selection, but Khris Middleton did not deserve the nod over Ball and Allen. That is evident, and statistics and team record can explain it.
Middleton is averaging 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game with an eFG% of 52.1 and a PER of 18.85 (45th overall in the NBA this season). I wouldn’t be as opposed to his selection if the Bucks were the best team in the Eastern Conference, but they have the third-best record in the conference, are only half a game in front of the 4th seeded Cavs, and only five games ahead of the 9th seeded Charlotte Hornets.
Allen is one of the most efficient players in the NBA with averages of 16.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game with an eFG% of 66.9, a TS% of 68.7, and the 13th best PER in the NBA of 23.29. Allen has also tried to silence the haters in the last two games, elevating his game to another level with a 29 point, 22 rebound effort Friday night and then another absurdly efficient stat line of 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 2 blocks Sunday night.
LaMelo Ball has also been unbelievable for the Hornets and has been the leader on their 11th ranked offense. Although they are the 9th seed in the Eastern Conference, Ball’s numbers are outstanding and the Hornets wouldn’t be in the position they are in without him. The same could be said for Miles Bridges who has been fantastic as well, but I have Ball in over Bridges because of his ability to simply affect the game in more ways than one.
Ball is averaging 19.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game with a TS% of 54.3 and a 3PT% of 36. Ball also has the 32nd PER of 20.37 vs. Middleton’s 45th ranked PER. The main argument is about Allen though, as Ball is extremely popular, especially among the younger generation of fans. In fact, Ball has one of the highest-selling jerseys in the league, and is a social media superstar. With that, Adam Silver will undoubtedly name Ball as the replacement for Kevin Durant as it makes sense from a business standpoint to garner more viewers.
Nonetheless, Jarrett Allen is leading the fourth-best team in the East in efficiency and dominance. He is a force now on both ends of the floor, not just defensively, and like Garland, is one of the main reasons why this team has had this resurgence. It is a shame that voters overlooked Allen’s impact and selected Middleton simply based on last year’s playoffs. There really isn’t a good argument for Middleton over Allen and voters are supposed to determine their selections based on this season’s performance, not the past. Hopefully Allen can be recognized for his stellar season as a replacement All-Star.