National Basketball Association

NBA Roundtable: Who will be snubbed from the 2024 All-Star reserves?

Published Feb. 1, 2024 3:38 p.m. ET

Yaron Weitzman

FOX Sports NBA Writer

Ric Bucher

FOX Sports NBA Analyst

Melissa Rohlin

FOX Sports NBA Writer

The reserves for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be announced Thursday night, and this year's selections will be as difficult as ever with a handful of players having career-years.

Last week, we asked FOX Sports' panel of NBA reporters — Ric Bucher, Melissa Rohlin and Yaron Weitzman — to choose their NBA All-Star starters for both conferences. This week, they chose their reserves.

EAST RESERVES

Yaron's picks: Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Jimmy Butler, Scottie Barnes, Kristaps Porzingis, Donovan Mitchell, Derrick White

Brunson, Maxey and Mitchell are obvious/easy calls. Derrick White will surprise some, but he's probably been the second-best player on the league's best team, and he's fantastic on both ends (Jaylen Brown's scoring and efficiency are both down).

I went with Barnes and Butler over Trae Young, Julius Randle and Paolo Banchero. I have trouble rewarding anything Trae Young does. Barnes, meanwhile, is averaging 20.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 35.9% from deep on 5.3 attempts per game. He's also guarding at an All-Defense level

Despite the Heat's recent swoon, they're still a playoff team and Jimmy is their best player. The hardest call was Porzingis over Bam Adebayo. I can't give the hovering-around-.500-Heat two All-Star and Porzingis has been an impact player for the league's best team on both ends of the floor. His scoring (19.4 points per game), and particularly his shooting (35.8 3P%) and paint finishing, has elevated the Celtics' offense. And he's been an elite rim protector.

Melissa's picks: Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle

Maxey is now regularly being referred to as a superstar, an incredible jump for a player who was recently considered an up-and-comer but needing a lot of growth. Brunson could've easily been a starter. Mitchell has been doing what Mitchell does. And Porzingis has been an incredible difference-maker for a Celtics team with the best record in the league.

I hesitated to pick two Heat players considering their mediocre record, but I voted LeBron James to be a starter and Anthony Davis to be a reserve despite the Lakers' struggles, so I similarly wanted to reward the great play of Butler and Adebayo in spite of their team's woes.

And Randle has helped the Knicks become the league's most physical team, putting up numbers that make him deserving of this honor (24 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5 assists). Hopefully he will recover from his dislocated shoulder in time to be able to play in the All-Star Game.

Ric's picks: Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Kristaps Porzingis, Donovan Mitchell, Julius Randle

No one is more shocked than me to be giving Randle an All-Star spot, but after a disastrous start to the season, he has been a force and with all the injured stars in Cleveland and half the conference underwater, stars whose play is producing wins are a scarce commodity. Obviously, an injury replacement might be needed with Randle's shoulder injury, but he certainly played enough games to merit a spot.

I'm equally shocked to identify Porzingis as Boston's second-best player, but he has been. What about a third Celtic? They have an array of All-Star-ish players, but I'm hard-pressed to see Jaylen Brown deserving any more recognition than Derrick White or Jrue Holiday. There were a whole bucket of other players I considered. I couldn't give the spot to Jimmy Butler because if he's going to be indifferent about playing during the regular season, I'm going to be indifferent about giving him All-Star recognition. (I already feel a little squirrely recognizing two players as All-Stars in the extremely meh Southeast Division.) Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam are too comparable to favor one. DeMar DeRozan has been a saving grace in Chicago and had the Bulls' recent surge started a little earlier, I could see picking him. But he hasn't been at the level that earned him All-Star recognition last year and the year before.

WEST RESERVES

Yaron's picks: Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Rudy Gobert, De'Aaron Fox

First off, Domantas Sabonis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Lauri Markkanen and Alperen Sengun all have good cases. There are no wrong answers here.

For me, Steph has to be an All-Star—and his play has been All-Star level. Gobert is the heart of the Wolves' No. 1 ranked defense, which is the reason they're currently the top team in the West. I also think Edwards' two-way play has been All-Star worthy, especially when you consider how much his team has won.

Kawhi and PG are easy calls—Kawhi is playing like an MVP, George has been his usual fantastic self and the Clippers look great.

The Lakers have been mediocre, but AD (24.9 points, has been great, 12.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and All-NBA level defense) has been fantastic.

Fox is my last pick. But I just can't ignore how good he's been for a 27-19 Kings team. His numbers (27.5 points per game and 38.6% shooting from deep on 7.9 attempts) are great. And the impact he has on the game is incredible.

Melissa's picks: Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Anthony Davis, De'Aaron Fox, Rudy Gobert

It still feels weird seeing Steph as a reserve, not a starter. It's what I voted for, it's the right call, but considering he's easily one of the top five players in the league in any conference, it's still a bit odd. So, yeah, he definitely belongs here.

Edwards and Gobert have led the Timberwolves to the best record in the Western Conference, with Edwards having career-highs in nearly every offensive category, including points (25.9), field goal percentage (46.3%), 3-point percentage (38.9%) and assists (5.3), and Gobert making a strong case for his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.

As for Leonard and George, they've both been available and consistently great. They've seamlessly adjusted to playing alongside James Harden. And they've led the Clippers to the third-best record in the Western Conference.

Now Davis, he's having a season that could've made him an All-Star starter. If the Lakers weren't struggling so much, he just may have been. And Fox has been just spectacular for the surging Kings franchise.

Ric's picks: Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Domantas Sabonis, Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert

Three weeks ago, I would've been hard-pressed to pick more than one Clipper, but I found myself looking at Kawhi as a lock and having to choose between Paul George and James Harden. The starting five selected really mucked up getting it right with the reserves. I don't like having two All-Stars from a team (the Lakers) with a losing record, but I'd choose AD over LeBron as an All-Star at this point and couldn't shortchange the former just because of the latter's popularity.

The Kings deserve two All-Stars over the Lakers, but I was forced to choose between Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox. Fox is the flashier, all-around more talented player but Sabonis has been more instrumental in the Kings' success. I'd also rather pick two Suns than two Lakers, especially with the scoring tear Booker has been on lately. Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Alperen Sengun all deserved to be considered. Even Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama have turned in more than a few performances this season worthy of All-Star status; the Thunder's Jalen Williams has been sneaky good as well. But that's the issue — I couldn't pick Holmgren or Williams over the other, nor could I do that with BI and Zion.

Ric Bucher is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, "Rebound," on NBA forward Brian Grant's battle with young onset Parkinson's, and "Yao: A Life In Two Worlds." He also has a daily podcast, "On The Ball with Ric Bucher." Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He is the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.

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