For All-Star snubs, injury-replacement spots offer hope
Nobody ever seems to care much about the All-Star Game itself. It's mostly a glorified pickup game, in which no defense is played and the occasional dazzling highlight is cheapened by indifferent opponents.
The All-Star selection process, on the other hand, is an annual source of hand-wringing and heated debate. Even those who criticize the game as being silly, vapid and nothing more than a popularity contest want to see the right players get rewarded.
The 2014-15 All-Star reserves, as voted on by the coaches, were announced Thursday night. And, as is true every season, several deserving players were left out.
But two spots remain open, as replacements are needed for Kobe Bryant in the West and Dwyane Wade in the East. Commissioner Adam Silver will make the calls.
Here's a look at the players most deserving of those spots.
Western Conference
DeMarcus Cousins, C Sacramento Kings
The Kings have been lousy for most of the season, but it would be ridiculous to pin that on Cousins, who has evolved into a complete player and one of the most dominant offensive forces in the league. When he's on the floor, the Kings outscore opponents by 6.6 points per 100 possessions, which would be the fourth-best mark in the NBA. When he's on the bench, they get outscored by 13.3 points per 100 possessions, a margin that would make the 76ers blush.
Damian Lillard, PG Portland Trail Blazers
Lillard said he'd be pissed if he didn't crack the roster, and he has every right to be. He's been the linchpin of one of the NBA's best teams and he's done it while suiting up every single night, and playing more total minutes than all but two players. He's one of the game's most dangerous and prolific long-range bombers, an underrated playmaker and has improved in almost every way from his All-Star campaign last season. Even if he's shown some fatigue in recent weeks and hasn't been the crunch-time assassin he was earlier in the year, any time he hits the bench the Blazers' offense morphs from a top-five juggernaut into a Knicksian clank-fest.
Eastern Conference
Kyle Korver, SG Atlanta Hawks
The push for four Hawks to make the All-Star Game has picked up a ton of steam during the team's ridiculous 17-game winning streak, but Korver, for the time being, is the odd man out. The biggest knock on Korver's All-Star candidacy is that he's one-dimensional. But he has so thoroughly owned that one dimension that he's still managed to become one of the most important players in the league. His true shooting percentage (74.1) is more than 100 points higher than the next-closest guard - MVP front-runner Stephen Curry at 62.7 - and he has the best net rating of any Hawk. With 52/53/92 shooting splits, on 5.8 3-point attempts per game, he's having one of the best shooting seasons of all time. He'd be an unconventional pick, but arguably the right one.
Nikola Vucevic, C Orlando Magic
A lot of people consider Vucevic's numbers empty because, even with his 19.5 points and 11.2 rebounds a night, the Magic don't scare anybody. But that's not entirely fair to Vucevic, who in his fourth NBA season has developed into a rebounding machine and legitimate post threat, frequently commanding double-teams. Meanwhile, the roster around him is still taking shape, filled out by raw, multi-positional youngsters who don't quite know what they are or want to be, and Orlando's coaching situation is less than ideal. Defense remains a concern, but Vucevic's 22.2 PER ranks third among NBA centers. He absolutely deserves to be in the mix.