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Who are the 3 biggest All-Star snubs?

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images Sport / Getty

As always, when the 24 players were announced for the NBA All-Star Game, the list of snubbed stars became one of the key topics of discussion.

Who are the three top players who didn't make the cut in 2018?

Lou Williams

Well, Lou Williams believes Lou Williams should've been an All-Star. Can you blame him?

Williams is having the best season of his 13-year career, averaging career highs in multiple categories and becoming the heart and soul of the L.A. Clippers in his first season with the franchise.

The Clippers have had injury troubles since the start of the year, with almost every rotation player missing time, including losing Patrick Beverly for the season after just 11 games. It's been Williams who's managed to keep this watered-down Clippers roster in the playoff hunt.

Over the past month, Williams is second in the league with 29.6 points per game. He's hitting 52.8 percent from the field and 48.5 from three during that stretch, during which the Clippers have gone 11-5, surging back from a 13-19 start and into the playoff hunt.

Maybe it's the fact that Williams has only started 14 of 45 games. Maybe it's that he's never been considered an All-Star before. Regardless, he's proven himself as a top-12 player in the wild Western conference.

Replacement for: Damian Lillard

Paul George

Oh, the cruel irony of George missing out on an All-Star nod, while Victor Oladipo - who he was traded for in a blockbuster summer deal with the Indiana Pacers - makes the cut in the East. The West is stacked to the brim with stars, more so than the East, but that shouldn't make this snub sting any less.

George's offensive numbers have taken a slight hit as one-third of a Big 3 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that was to be expected. Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony are both high-usage players who command the rock, resulting in George taking two fewer shots per game than he had with the Pacers the past two years.

Defensively, very few players can claim to be on George's level this season. He's tied for the league lead in steals with 93 and is the only player averaging four or more deflections per game (4.4).

Oklahoma City's third-ranked defense isn't what it is without George, who's arguably the best two-way player in basketball, with Kawhi Leonard nursing injuries. An egregious snub in the overpowered West was inevitable, but it shouldn't have been PG13.

Replacement for: Klay Thompson

Goran Dragic

It doesn't make sense for the fifth-seeded Washington Wizards to have two All-Stars, while the fourth-seeded Miami Heat won't be represented at all.

Dragic doesn't mind being snubbed since he's going on vacation, but the scrappy Slovenian should be in Los Angeles to collect his long overdue All-Star nod. The 31-year-old is the heart and soul of a Heat team that's caught fire following a mediocre 11-13 start.

Miami has ripped off a 16-7 run over the last six weeks that includes wins over Toronto, Milwaukee, and Boston, and they are 8-2 over their last 10 games.

It's not as if Dragic is some world beater, but he's the engine that makes the Heat run. He's averaging a solid 17.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on a team that largely struggles to create offense. Nobody else on the roster can reliably get a bucket, which means Dragic is often left to create out of thin air. Miami wouldn't be in position for home-court advantage if Dragic wasn't pushing the pace (and with his off arm) and creating opportunities for others with his penetration in the paint.

Replacement for: John Wall

Honorable mentions: Andre Drummond, Chris Paul, Kemba Walker

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