2017 NBA All-Star Game snubs: Embiid, Gobert, Wade, CP3, Melo left off the list
'The Process' will have to be patient
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4 min read
The full rosters for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game have been announced, and, as always, a bunch of deserving players have been left out. The subject of "snubs" is always tricky, as you generally have to take a great player out to put another in, but here are 15 notable players who didn't make the cut:
The rare rookie to receive All-Star consideration, Joel Embiid is truly a once-in-a-generation big man. You just don't find guys who are as skilled and mobile as him at his size, and he's already an extremely effective defensive player despite the fact that he's still relatively new to the sport. The only real argument against him is his minutes played.
It's not just that he anchors a dominant defensive team. This season's version of Rudy Gobert is also an enormous threat in the pick-and-roll and an improved free-throw shooter. His development is an incredible story -- the stuff he is doing now was almost unimaginable when he was a rookie just three years ago. DeAndre Jordan is an excellent player, but it's strange that the coaches chose him over Gobert.
He wouldn't have played because of a broken hand, but his pre-injury play was phenomenal. Chris Paul is one of the best point guards of all-time, and it's not just because the way he controls the game offensively -- at 31 years old, without the speed he possessed years ago, he's still one of the best defenders at his position. Stunning that he didn't make it.
With how crowded the pool of potential All-Star guards in the Western Conference always is, it seems like Mike Conley might go his whole career without a selection. It would have been wonderful to see his two-way excellence rewarded in this manner, especially after everybody made a big deal out of the maximum contract he signed last summer. Unfortunate that he got left out again.
Also snubbed last season, Damian Lillard will have to wait to make his return to the league's biggest showcase. He has had an awesome individual season, and Portland's defensive struggles are bigger than his poor pick-and-roll defense, but it appears as if the coaches just didn't want to give a spot to someone on such an underperforming team.
Since Lillard didn't make it, it's hard to make an argument for C.J. McCollum. The two of them do similar things offensively, and they have been carrying the Blazers together. If they had carried them to a winning record, these results might have been different.
Dwyane Wade
SG
If it was up to the fans, Dwyane Wade would be starting. He was in the All-Star Game for 12 straight years -- 2005-16 -- so it's going to be weird not to see him there. At this point, though, selecting him would have been more of a legacy thing -- it's hard to overlook his shooting percentage, defense and the Bulls' record.
Carmelo Anthony still carries a huge offensive burden and has been on fire for the better part of the past month, but he will not make his 10th All-Star team because the Knicks are a mess and he has been part of the problem. Like Wade, this will be a very different weekend for him -- he was voted in as a starter for seven straight seasons until this one.
He's the No. 2 option on the second-best team in the league. Early-season trade rumors have vanished, and LaMarcus Aldridge is once again shooting 50 percent and punishing any team that dares leave him open from midrange. He has done his part to keep the Spurs steady on defense without Tim Duncan, too. The individual numbers don't wow you, however.
Karl-Anthony Towns will be a perennial All-Star, but his numbers and the Timberwolves' record haven't improved as much as many thought they would after his extraordinary rookie season. If his January averages -- 24 points, 13.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, 54.8 percent shooting -- were his season averages, he would have a stronger case.
With Isaiah Thomas getting most of the attention, Al Horford's quiet effectiveness hasn't gotten a ton of recognition this season. He has fit in extremely well, but it seems like Celtics haven't been consistent enough to force the coaches to give them two All-Stars.
There's no one in the league quite like Nikola Jokic, and he would have been entertaining as hell in the All-Star Game. We'll have to settle for the 21-year-old center throwing crazy passes in the Rising Stars game for now, but his time will come. Jokic has future star written all over him, and the Nuggets should have been running their offense through him all season.
In a different season, Bradley Beal's numbers on a hot Washington Wizards team might have been enough to get him in. There are just too many great guards in the Eastern Conference, though, so he didn't really have a shot.
The Houston Rockets have been fantastic under Mike D'Antoni, and Eric Gordon is looking more explosive than he has in years. He's launching 3s and serving as their secondary play-maker, and while it didn't result in an All-Star berth, it will almost certainly get him the Sixth Man of the Year award as long as he stays healthy.
His numbers aren't all that different from when he made his first All-Star team last season, but Andre Drummond still hasn't made the leap defensively and his Pistons have been wildly disappointing for almost two months now. He has the talent to get back there, but this hasn't been a particularly impressive season.
Honorable mentions: Kristaps Porzingis, Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Jabari Parker
