Timberwolves: Predicting who makes the All-Star team
The NBA All-Star game is on Feb. 20, but who will be representing their team in Cleveland?
Fan voting has, and always will be bullshit. The only benefit of the whole thing is getting fans engaged. Half the players on the list aren’t actually All-Stars, but rather a joke or have been injured.
Nonetheless, here are the top fan vote-getters:
The Minnesota Timberwolves have massively improved this season. Last year they finished with 23 wins in a 72-game season. They’ve already matched that number through 46 games.
There are several reasons this team is drastically better and heading towards a play-in/playoff berth.
- A full season of Chris Finch
- Improved defense
- D’Angelo Russell has taken a step defensively
- The emergence of Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley
- Anthony Edwards isn’t a rookie
- Karl-Anthony Towns has dominated
The last bullet point is the direction of this article. If there is a member of the Timberwolves to make the All-Star team, it will be Towns. Russell has been valuable, but he started the season poorly on offense. Edwards is too inconsistent at this point in his career. However, it’s easy to see him making it as early as next season
Towns is shooting 51.5 percent from the field, 40.4 from 3 and 80.6 from the line. He’s been the team’s most efficient player and by a wide margin.
He’s currently averaging 24.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Towns will always be good on offense, but his defense this season has been the biggest surprise.
He’s averaging 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. He’s been anchoring a .500 team and without him, Minnesota would be nowhere near where they are in the standings.
For the Timberwolves to take the next step, Towns has to be great on both ends of the floor. I don’t mean sneaking into the playoffs, I mean a top-5 team in the Western Conference.
Here are my predictions for this year’s All-Star team.
Predictions:
West Starters:
West Reserves:
East Starters:
East Reserves:
Replacements for players who might miss the All-Star game:
- Durant: Jarrett Allen
- LaVine: Bradley Beal
- Green: Andrew Wiggins
- Sabonis: Jaylen Brown
