B/R Staff’s 2024 NBA All-Star Starters and Reserves So Far

Bleacher Report NBA StaffDecember 25, 2023B/R Staff’s 2024 NBA All-Star Starters and Reserves So Far0 of 12

Joel Embiid and Giannis AntetokounmpoGary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

It’s that time of year again.

No, not that time of year. It’s 2024 NBA All-Star Game talk time.

Voting for this season’s playground extravaganza tipped off on Tuesday, Dec. 19. To celebrate the opening of the megastar polls, Bleacher Report NBA Staff writers Grant Hughes and Dan Favale are here to deliver their All-Star rosters.

Hughes will handle the Western Conference. Favs has the Eastern Conference. Each roster will have 12 spots, divvied up as follows:

Two starting backcourt playersThree starting frontcourt playersTwo backcourt reservesThree frontcourt reservesTwo wild cardsPSA: These are our All-Star picks, not necessarily how we see the final results—which take into account votes cast by fans, players and media members (starters) and coaches (reserves)—shaking out.

Finally, our selections are locked and loaded as of games played Dec. 20. Things change fast in #thisleague, and the margins, specifically, between reserves/wild cards and honorable mentions are super-super slim. So, you know, try not to dispute our choices using performances that transpired after Wednesday.

Let’s build some All-Star rosters!

Eastern Conference Backcourt Starters1 of 12

Tyrese Maxey and Tyrese HaliburtonDavid Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers

Don’t pencil Haliburton into an Eastern Conference starter slot. Write his name is Sharpie. Or tattoo it onto something or someone. Or yourself. It’s permanent, a given, irreversible.

Haliburton’s play has cast a national spotlight onto the Pacers. That, naturally, has invited starker critiques of their defense. Mostly, though, the wider-scale attention is a nod to Haliburton’s relentless offensive motor, creativity and versatility.

The damage he can do in transition and with his hitahead passes is well documented. But defenses bend and often break even when he slows down. Haliburton expertly leverages the threat of his pull-up jumper into half-court anarchy.

His finishing calculus is unpredictable—the shot types, the angles, the distance, everything. And he’s a whiz at burning defenses with his live-dribble playmaking. Among 80 players averaging at least eight drives per game, only James Harden and Malik Monk have higher assist rates. Nobody has tossed more dimes at the rim, per PBP Stats.

Also, Haliburton is ferrying his megastar’s burden with unfathomable ball control. He’s on track for his second season with an assist rate north of 45 and turnover rate south of 13. Chris Paul is the only other player on record to maintain these benchmarks in multiple years.

Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers

Figuring out the second starting backcourt spot gets tricky. Deserving candidates are available in droves.

Volume married to efficiency earns Maxey this nod. He is averaging more than 27 points and six assists while flirting with 60 true shooting. That’s, uh, bonkers when you consider his spike in role difficulty.

Last year, he averaged around 5.4 minutes of possession time per 36 minutes of floor time. That number has exploded to nearly 7.0 minutes this season. More than 53 percent of his made buckets are going unassisted, up from just over 45 percent in 2022-23.

Somehow, someway, Maxey has actually lowered his turnover rate amid skyrocketing centrality. At this rate, in fact, he’s on pace to have the lowest turnover rate on record for anyone who’s ever averaged at least 25 points and five assists—by a mile.

The words you’re looking for are “holy” and “@#$%!.”

Western Conference Backcourt Starters2 of 12

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

Everyone already knows about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s offense. The perennial league leader in drives and arguably the single hardest player to keep out of the paint, SGA was an All-NBA first-teamer last year and quietly logged what should go down as one one of the most impressive scoring seasons in NBA history.

He was the youngest player (and one of only seven overall) to average at least 31.0 points per game with a true shooting percentage north of 62.0 percent.

SGA’s offensive production hasn’t skipped a beat this season, as he’s once again averaging over 30.0 points with an even higher true shooting percentage. Gilgeous-Alexander is the main reason the Oklahoma City Thunder vaulted from being an exciting young team with potential to one that could legitimately win the Western Conference.

This time, though, he’s doing it on both ends.

The league leader in steals and deflections per game, SGA isn’t just disrupting things away from the ball. He’s also holding opponents to a lower accuracy rate than any other guard with at least 300 field goals defended.

There hasn’t been a better two-way backcourt force in the league this season.

Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks

Luka Dončić has a strong enough statistical profile to earn this spot without help. He’s already been an All-Star four times and is on pace to post more points and assists with a higher three-point percentage than he did in any of his other All-Star seasons.

Dončić is fifth in the latest MVP straw poll from ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, which feels about right.

Still, it certainly doesn’t hurt his case that competition for a starting spot is a little thinner than usual.

Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors have come unglued for long stretches of the year, Damian Lillard is now plying his trade in the East, Ja Morant sat out the first 25 games for the Memphis Grizzlies and Devin Booker has played significantly fewer contests than Luka to this point in the season.

Dončić is in line to become the third player since Oscar Robertson to average at least 30.0 points and 9.0 assists in a season, trails only SGA among West guards in Box Plus/Minus and has the Dallas Mavericks in contention to host a first-round postseason series for just the second time since they won the 2011 championship.

Eastern Conference Frontcourt Starters3 of 12

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel EmbiidPatrick McDermott/Getty Images

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

What else is left to say about Antetokounmpo other than: My. God.

Giannis is, in many ways, the same player. This is to say, he’s a walking 30/10/5/1.5/1 stat line. But his mode of offensive operations has shifted. Better spacing has rendered him a more dangerous passer in the half-court without needing a running start. And after a smattering of struggles to ween off jumpers out of the gate, he has materially cut down his mid-range and three-point attempts.

Almost two-thirds of Giannis’ looks are coming at the basket. That’s just off the career-best mark he set in 2018-19. His nearly 80 percent shooting at the cup would also be the second highest of his career. That volume and deadeye finishing buoys what would be a personal-best 65-plus-percent conversion rate from inside the arc.

We might be seeing some slippage on defense. Giannis remains primed to erase plays and field-goal attempts from basically anywhere. But he feels less like the tip of the spear and has, more than occasionally, contributed to Milwaukee’s defensive warts.

Good luck pretending that matters. It’s the difference, maybe, between calling Giannis a top-three player instead of a top-two player.

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Awarding a starter’s slot to Embiid is among the easiest decisions of this exercise. He is on course to win his third consecutive scoring title. He has a legitimate chance, as of now, to become the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1961-92 to record more points than minutes. His twos are dropping at a clip noticeably above 55 percent. His free-throw merchanting is intact. He is, like usual, one of the foremost Defensive Player of the Year candidates.

And then there’s his passing.

Embiid is obliterating his career high in assists—without any adverse effects on his turnover rate. Not all of his dimes are ultra-complicated. He’s making a lot of uncontested kick-outs and pitches to the perimeter once defenders start committing to double-teams and closeouts.

But that’s a great thing. Embiid’s decision-making in more congested traffic is on the up-and-up, as well. His vision when doubled on the block is more panoramic than ever. Not unrelated: After averaging around 6.6 potential assists per 36 minutes last year, Embiid is up to 10.1 now.

Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

This case can write itself in seven words: best player on perhaps the best team.

Though Tatum’s efficiency has ebbed from deep and he’s getting to the line a hair less, he’s burying a career-high 57-plus percent of his twos and reaching the rim a dab more than last season. His overall three-point accuracy will recover when—yes, when—he starts converting more than sub-30 percent of his pull-up treys.

Tatum is also far more of a mission-critical offensive lifeline than his playmaking numbers suggest and despite what some of the on-off splits imply. Boston only recently started looking like a more coherent team when he’s not on the floor.

Like always, his defensive workload pales in comparison to that of his frontcourt running mates, Giannis and Embiid. But also like always, he wears a more disruptive hat than most other All-Stars, period.

Western Conference Frontcourt Starters4 of 12

Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

The easiest frontcourt pick in the West, Nikola Jokić leads the league in Value Over Replacement Player and ranks second in Dunks and Threes’ Estimated Wins. He’s been at or near the top of those catch-all leaderboards (both of which price in volume of playing time) for the better part of the last half-decade, so seeing him there again is nothing new.

It’s true Jokić’s scoring efficiency is sitting at a five-year low, but he’s still hitting almost 60.0 percent of his twos and boosting Denver’s offensive efficiency by nearly 20.0 points per 100 possessions when on the floor—a cartoonish figure. If it’s counting stats you’re into, he’s less than one assist per game away from averaging a triple-double.

Even in what feels like a down year, Jokić still has the best All-Star case of anyone in his conference, regardless of position.

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

We’re not going to get the In-Season Tournament version of LeBron James every night. The league’s all-time leading scorer summoned a little something extra in driving the Los Angeles Lakers to the first-ever IST title. That said, the form he showed in those higher-stakes games was indicative of the elevated state James has reached over the season’s larger sample.

He’s on pace to post his highest true shooting percentage and steal rate in a decade, and he’s getting to the rim more often than he has in years. If his current 89th percentile ranking in attempt frequency at the basket holds, it’ll be the highest of his entire career.

It should go without saying that a career best in anything for a player as decorated as James is a massive achievement—let alone one he might pull off at age 39.

James’ 20th All-Star start is in the bag.

Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers

This spot could have easily gone to Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis, but Kawhi Leonard’s case gets a serious boost from his recent play. In a dozen games between Nov. 27 and Dec. 20, 10 of which the Clippers won, Leonard made at least half of his shots 11 times, averaging 29.3 points per contest on an absolutely absurd 59.3/51.7/92.3 shooting split.

That’s (better than?) vintage Kawhi, and it’s not even the most remarkable aspect of Leonard’s resurgent efforts.

Believe it or not, Leonard hasn’t missed a single game all year. Even with a workload nobody thought he could shoulder anymore, Leonard isn’t just avoiding a breakdown. He’s getting stronger as his game total climbs. Those predatory steals where he rips the ball out of the air with his massive mitts are back, and Leonard’s defensive activity is the main reason the Clippers have climbed into the top 10 on defense, ranking inside the top five over the past month.

Eastern Conference Backcourt Reserves5 of 12

Trae Young and Donovan MitchellDavid Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Groggy outside shot-making to close November and open December dampens Mitchell’s overall efficiency relative to some of the other backcourt candidates. I can’t bring myself to care. He is still connecting on over 52 percent of his twos and 35 percent of his threes while averaging over 27 points and five assists.

Cleveland has and will continue to lean on him more amid injuries. He’s up to the task. Mitchell has jazzed up his passing on drives, remains one of the most lethal off-the-dribble shot creators in the business and continues to play gives-a-f–k defense. His steal and block rates both sit at career highs.

Maintaining a sub-10 turnover percentage is a big deal considering his 30-plus percent usage. If his numbers hold, Mitchell will be the ninth player to hit those benchmarks while also paring them with his steal and block rates. His company: Michael Jordan (nine times), Tracy McGrady (three), Vince Carter (two), Kawhi Leonard (two), Dominique Wilkins (two), Kobe Bryant, Anthony Davis and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (doing it this season).

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Anyone who stopped paying attention to the Hawks is forgiven. It’s understandable. But you’ve missed out on a Trae Young bucket-getting resurgence if you’ve tuned out. His true shooting percentage is now higher than last season—and the third-best of his career—and he’s banging in over 39 percent of his off-the-dribble triples on top-two volume.

The playmaking, as ever, remains divine. Young has the type of vision and control that can power a top-flight offense even when his shot isn’t falling. Only Luka Dončić has assisted on more threes, and he’s second in dimes at the rim, per PBP Stats.

Defense remains his Achilles heel. But we’re in, like, Year 1.75 of Young trying. And the other names that could appear here are no great shakes on the less glamorous end themselves.

Western Conference Backcourt Reserves6 of 12

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry’s age-35 season looks a lot like his age-34 campaign, which is to say it’s marked by league-leading totals in attempted and made threes, a scoring average in the high 20s and truly elite offensive efficiency. If Steph’s numbers hold, he’ll become the second player in NBA history to average at least 28.0 points per game with a true shooting percentage north of 65.0 percent in consecutive seasons.

You’re not supposed to get more consistently dominant as you hit your mid-30s, yet here we are appreciating Curry’s ability to produce superstar stats at an advanced age while his supporting cast crumbles around him.

Though his typical on-off split dominance isn’t there this season, the Golden State Warriors’ struggles aren’t attributable to him. Opponents are destroying the Dubs at the rim in Steph’s minutes, which owes more to Klay Thompson getting cooked on the perimeter and Kevon Looney regressing as a paint protector than anything Curry is doing defensively.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

Devin Booker’s assumption of point guard duties isn’t the only reason he broke a deadlock with De’Aaron Fox for this spot, but it helped. In addition to averaging just over 8.0 assists per game in his first season as the Phoenix Suns’ primary ball-handler, Booker narrowly bests Fox in true shooting percentage, Player Efficiency Rating and EPM.

If you want to hand this spot to the Sacramento Kings point guard on the strength of his much lower turnover rate, higher scoring average and small advantage in games played, that’s defensible. Fox’s Kings are notably higher in the standings than Booker’s Suns, too.

In the end, we’re going with Booker at least in part because his degree of difficulty—due to injuries and a new position—is a touch higher.

Eastern Conference Frontcourt Reserves7 of 12

Scottie BarnesMark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images

Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

Sure, the Raptors have devolved into a manufacturer of dejected confusion. But Barnes continues to shine bright, expanding and polishing pretty much every part of his game.

Splashing in 38-plus percent of his threes on more than five attempts a night is genuinely franchise-altering. It doesn’t matter how wide-open they are or how few of them come off the dribble. Even if his astronomically high clip on longer twos doesn’t hold, the set jumper looks real—and he uncorks it without hesitance.

Toronto’s offense is often an eyesore’s worth of crampy, clumpy sadness. That’s not on Barnes. His outside accuracy and live-dribble decision-making open the floor more than they close it. Defenses already seem more inclined to overreact when he sets foot inside the arc. And his own defense is transcending “stellar” status. Guarding fewer bigs has at once rendered him more disruptive and disciplined.

Barnes’ growth is not amounting to glittery win totals. But it is churning out an historical stat-line dalliance. Larry Bird (1975-76) and Kevin Durant (2015-16) are the only players to clear 20 points, five rebounds, one steal and one block per game while shooting better than 50 percent on twos and 37 percent on threes. At 22, Barnes is at least five years younger than either of them were when they did it.

Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat

Choosing my Eastern Conference frontcourt starters was a breeze. The reserves section is a bloodbath of viable options. Barnes was my fourth and final lock of the frontcourt. The next two selections warped my psyche.

Butler comes off the board first. It initially didn’t look like he’d have the minutes to unseat his primary rivals. He has since climbed his way to middle-of-the-road in total court time.

Pairing comparable availability with his on-court exploits triple-seals the deal for Butler. He plays with the same ferocity on defense and remains a shooting-foul machine. In the face of receding clips at the rim and from mid-range, he’s nudged up his three-point shooting and accuracy. The combination of a better outside clip and living at the charity stripe has propped up his overall efficiency.

Benefit of the doubt is not being awarded to Butler’s reputation or a small block of his time. The Heat are more than 13 points per 100 possessions better for the season with him on the floor—a top-five net rating swing among everyone who has played as many minutes.

Mikal Bridges, Brooklyn Nets

This final frontcourt slot came down to Paolo Banchero, Bam Adebayo, Mikal Bridges, Kristaps Porziņģis and Julius Randle.

Tough cuts needed to be made, so Bam and KP were spliced off for playing more than 150 fewer minutes than anyone else in this group. Randle has been killing it for a while now, though his three-point efficiency, overall shot selection and defensive intensity skew too inconsistent.

Banchero is tempting. You want to reward the Orlando Magic for their meteoric ascent, and he’s the best possible recipient. But the offensive peaks and valleys are too much. Contact-drawing artistry and improved three-point shooting are important, but it feels like he’s tossing more telegraphed passes, and his sub-70-percent clip from the foul line is a letdown.

Bridges has endured his own turbulent journeys between stark offensive highs and lows. But he’s been scaling back up in a big way over the past month-plus. And while you don’t feel him as much defensively on a possession-by-possession basis, his workload is one scant few can handle, especially as a primary option and secondary facilitator on offense.

Western Conference Frontcourt Reserves8 of 12

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

Health is mostly to blame, but Anthony Davis hasn’t appeared in an All-Star Game since 2021. His production and availability this season will remedy that.

AD’s best game of the year won’t even count toward his All-Star credentials, as his 40-point, 20-rebound, five-assist, four-block effort in the In-Season Tournament Final disappeared into the ether. If that statistical explosion had come during a regular-season game, it would have been the first of its kind produced by a Los Angeles Laker in over 50 years.

Davis has a case as this season’s best rim-protector, as he’s holding opponents to 49.8. percent shooting on 8.4 close-range attempts per game. Per Cleaning the Glass, he drives down opponent accuracy at the cup by 10.3 percentage points, a figure that ranks in the 99th percentile among bigs.

The league leader in rebounds per game, Davis is on pace to finish the season averaging over 24.0 points, 12.0 boards, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks—something no one has done since 2003-04…except for the time AD did it in 2018-19.

Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns

Surprisingly the healthiest of the Phoenix Suns’ three stars, Kevin Durant has spent a significant chunk of 2023-24 carrying a squad populated by minimum signings and castoffs to a respectable record. Despite tough conditions and a consistent lack of help, he’s up over 30.0 points per game for the first time since he led the league in scoring during the 2013-14 campaign.

He also hasn’t lost a step from an efficiency standpoint, even if he’s doing things a little differently this season.

We should expect Durant to quit making 46.7 percent of his threes at some point, but any dropoff there will be offset by an inevitable spike in mid-range accuracy. KD hasn’t been this errant on his pet two-point jumpers in a decade, so you know positive regression is coming.

Still a bucket of the highest order, still an underrated defender and still the face you see under “matchup nightmare” in the dictionary, KD cannot be left off the All-Star roster. This’ll be his 14th appearance, which will tie him with Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki and Jerry West for fifth-most all time.

Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

The counting stats don’t scream All-Star, but Chet Holmgren is much more than his fairly pedestrian averages of 16.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. For one thing, he’s the Western Conference leader in Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus. For another, his 4.5 percent block rate, which ranks in the 96th percentile among bigs, is part of a rim-protection package that rates among the very best in the league.

Joel Embiid is the only player contesting more shots at the rim per game, and Holmgren is holding opponents to close-range conversion rates lower than every high-volume (at least 7.0 contests per game) paint protector not named Embiid, Anthony Davis or Rudy Gobert.

Though his three-point shooting has cooled since a scorching start, Holmgren is still one of only three players in the league with at least 70 blocks and 30 made triples. The others are Brook Lopez and Victor Wembanyama, and Holmgren smokes both of them in both true shooting percentage. Minor upticks in a couple of stat categories could see the OKC rookie lead the league in blocked shots while posting a 50-40-90 shooting split.

Eastern Conference Wild Cards9 of 12

Jalen Brunson and Damian LillardGary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Remember when Brunson looked like a silhouette of the player from last year?

Yeah, I can’t remember, either.

Brunson has rebounded nicely from an awkward start. His two-point efficiency is down overall but has normalized over the past month or so. He’s shooting above 51 percent on drives since Nov. 20.

His three-point stroke, meanwhile, continues to be revelatory. He is hovering above 45 percent from deep and has morphed into one of the Association’s most devastating pull-up-triple launchers. Here’s every player matching his volume and efficiency on off-the-bounce treys:

Reconciling his inside-the-arc slippage is pretty easy. The Knicks aren’t yet rolling out lineups with enviable spacing. Brunson has a bottom-six shot quality among everyone to notch at least 500 minutes, according to PBP Stats. If you’re looking for him to have a stronger starting case—or you’re somehow offended he’s a wild card—we need to see a little more from him during his minutes without Julius Randle.

Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks

Lillard is back to lighting it up from three-point range after a some bricky-ness to open the year. He is now drilling over 37 percent of his treys overall and turning in a 42-plus percent clip from behind the rainbow for the past month.

Milwaukee is barely winning the minutes he tallies without Giannis Antetokounmpo. That undermines Lillard’s case relative to Tyrese Maxey and Trae Young. But the impact his mere existence has on the Bucks’ floor balance is beyond measure.

He has defenses scrambling—panicking. And the havoc he wreaks on the move extends well beyond his scoring. Luke Dončić and Spencer Dinwiddie are the only players who have generated more corner-three assists, per PBP Stats.

Western Conference Wild Cards10 of 12

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings

Sometimes, the Sacramento Kings play like a .500 team. Others, they look every bit like a contender to win multiple playoff series.

The difference is De’Aaron Fox.

Not that we needed proof, but the Kings’ sketchy 2-3 stretch without Fox in November underscored his singular importance to the team. Say what you want about Domantas Sabonis’ integral role in the offense, but Fox and his nightly 30-point efforts are the real bellwether in Sacramento, where his positive on-off split rates in the 89th percentile league-wide.

A renewed emphasis on defense, a return to elite status as a foul-drawer and a career-low turnover rate have Fox playing the best ball of his life. Those 30-plus points per game and turbo-charged downhill attacks don’t hurt, either.

Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

We had to get somebody from the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves onto the roster with our final wild-card spot, and Anthony Edwards is the logical choice. Though Rudy Gobert’s re-entry into the DPOY conversation is a factor in Minnesota’s rise (as is one of the sturdiest eight-man rotations around), Edwards is the key to this team’s success.

Ant’s threes are falling at a career-best 38.1 percent clip, he’s on pace to crack 5.0 assists per game for the first time in his career (with fewer turnovers than last season) and he’s shown us a new level of defensive intensity in the biggest moments.

Final Eastern Conference 2024 All-Star Roster11 of 12

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson TatumMaddie Meyer/Getty Images

Backcourt Starter: Tyrese HaliburtonBackcourt Starter: Tyrese MaxeyFrontcourt Starter: Giannis AntetokounmpoFrontcourt Starter: Joel EmbiidFrontcourt Starter: Jayson TatumBackcourt Reserve: Donovan MitchellBackcourt Reserve: Trae YoungFrontcourt Reserve: Scottie BarnesFrontcourt Reserve: Jimmy ButlerFrontcourt Reserve: Mikal BridgesWild Card: Jalen BrunsonWild Card: Damian LillardHonorable Mentions: Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Kristaps Porziņģis and Julius Randle.

—Favale

Final Western Conference 2024 All-Star Roster12 of 12

Kevin Durant and Stephen CurryJed Jacobsohn/NBAE via Getty Images

Backcourt Starter: Luka DončićBackcourt Starter: Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderFrontcourt Starter: LeBron JamesFrontcourt Starter: Nikola JokićFrontcourt Starter: Kawhi LeonardBackcourt Reserve: Stephen CurryBackcourt Reserve: Devin BookerFrontcourt Reserve: Anthony DavisFrontcourt Reserve: Kevin DurantFrontcourt Reserve: Chet HolmgrenWild Card: De’Aaron FoxWild Card: Anthony Edwards—Hughes