2016 NBA All-Star Snubs List: Lillard, Nowitzki, Gasol don't make the cut
Sure, there are only 24 total roster spots for the 2016 All-Star Game. However, there are several names who surprisingly didn't make the cut.
By
Eye on Basketball staff
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8 min read
The official rosters for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game is set, which means that there are several players that just didn't make the cut. From former All-Stars to players that are having career years, here are a few notable names that were left off the final All-Star Game rosters.
Here's a look at the snubs from both conferences, beginning with the East:
Eastern Conference Snubs
Kemba Walker, Charlotte Hornets
Walker is averaging 21 points and five assists per game and has finally made a significant leap in efficiency, finally. He's shooting 36 percent from 3-point range, and that's massive for evaluating him. Walker's biggest problem is how the Hornets fell off a cliff over the last month. You need to be winning games and while Walker is a good player on a team with some upside, it just wasn't enough to carry him into the All-Star Game.
Reggie Jackson, Detroit Pistons
Jackson's numbers were a little bit worse than Kemba Walker's in scoring and scoring efficiency, and that probably had an impact here, especially with Jackson having Andre Drummond to lob to constantly. Still, Jackson had more team success and you wonder what more he could have done outside of shoot a little better to get in. The Pistons are dangerous and Jackson's a huge reason why.
Horford has been the Hawks' rock for years, it's why he's a multi-time All-Star. His numbers are almost the exact same as last year (15 points, seven rebounds, three assists per game) and his shooting hasn't tailed off in any significant way. The Hawks are still a top-four seed in the East. I get it's a crowded field in the Eastern frontcourt, but if you want to look at guys who bring it every night and are quality players on both ends of the floor, Horford belongs on that list.
Nicolas Batum, Charlotte Hornets
Batum has made a big leap as a playmaker this season and is taking on a much bigger part of the Hornets' offense. Like Walker, though, he suffers because of the team's overall struggles in winning games over the last month. Has Batum been great for the Hornets? Absolutely. Has he been an All-Star? Nope.
Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks
No one is talking about Porzingis as a pick and it's baffling. He's averaging 14 points and seven rebounds with a PER of 18.5 and is a defensive playmaker for a New York team that is very much within range of making the playoffs. He's also a complete sensation and one of the most popular players in the league. When you compare him with the other guys, is there a big reason he shouldn't be in a contest that's made, specifically, for the fans?
I'm stunned Gasol, a multi-time All-Star and respected veteran for a top-five conference team didn't get in. Gasol's defense has been lacking -- as it has been for several years -- but his offense is tremendous and he opens up things for the rest of the Bulls. Averaging a double-double with 16.6 points and 10.9 boards with good efficiency, for a team with a legit shot at the Eastern Conference Finals and two wins over the Cavaliers should have been enough to get Gasol in. This one's a shocker.
Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
Averaging 17.9 points per game on 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range on 4.8 3-point attempts per game, along with four boards and four assists per game and PER of 16.6. Middleton has been sensational for the Bucks ... but the Bucks have not been sensational. It's too bad, but Middleton deserves recognition for his spectacular play.
The phenom is a blocks machine on a team likely to make the playoffs. You'd think that would put him on the list, but how do you justify three Heat All-Stars for an uninspiring and underperforming team?
Western Conference Snubs
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
It's tough to look at that Dallas Mavericks team, who has been better than many predicted, and not see the season Dirk Nowitzki is having as the big reason they're still so good. We keep waiting for Dirk to tail off and while his minutes have gone down over the years, the rates in which he scores and the efficiency in which he scores virtually stay the same. His averages are still fairly impressive despite playing barely 30 minutes per game. He's providing 17.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a true shooting percentage of 55.9 percent.
I'm guessing the reason he didn't get selected is just the crowded nature of the front court. For a maximum of seven frontcourt spots, you have the three starters (Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Kobe Bryant) already in. Then you have deserving players like Dirk, Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMarcus Cousins and Gordon Hayward. The nice thing is Dirk will very much appreciate the week off without having to go through All-Star events and festivities.
Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
It's impossible to deny his play as All-Star worthy. Forget the team success without him when he went down with the quad tendon injury. His averages of 23.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and five assists per game are incredible. He's the only player in the NBA with the 23-8-5 stat line every night. He's also an above average defender now and the Clippers feed off the scoring impact he has and the way it affects the defense.
The knock against him this season is the games missed. By the time the All-Star break comes, he'll have only played in 30 of their 53 games. As talented as he is and as fun as he is in an All-Star Game, missing nearly half the season when the break comes around is too much in the West. The broken hand incident may upset coaches too but this is mostly about missing a significant number of games.
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
There are a lot of good guards in the West and that's mostly why Damian Lillard didn't make it. His numbers are pretty impressive. He's averaging career highs in points (24.3) and assists (7.1). His usage is through the roof (31 percent, previous high 26.9 percent) on a team that is currently eighth in offense. A lot of people thought the Blazers would be horrendous this season and Lillard as the sole star on this team (CJ McCollum has been very good but not a star yet) has kept them in the playoff race in the West.
This is another case though of whether or not a non-playoff star should get in over a playoff star. The Blazers could still make the postseason but they have a losing record. That can be a knock in a lot of coaches' eyes. Lillard probably should have made his third straight All-Star Game, but when you have 16-ish deserving players in a conference, guys get left off with just 12 spots.
The Grizzlies are the fifth-best team in the West, but don't get an All-Star named? That's a pretty tough draw for them. Marc Gasol would be the guy too. His defense is still some of the best in the league, even if it's not the same impact as in his Defensive Player of the Year season. Gasol is one of seven players in the NBA averaging at least 16 points, seven rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Westbrook, LeBron, Durant, Paul George, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony are the others. Those are star numbers he's putting up.
This just seems to keep going with the theme that the Memphis Grizzlies are overlooked this season and maybe it's the bad big moments that get highlighted instead of the resiliency they've shown in a changing NBA landscape.
J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Clippers
Maybe you look at DeAndre Jordan as the non-Blake Griffin/Chris Paul option for the Clippers to get into the All-Star weekend but J.J. Redick's season has to be recognized as All-Star worthy. He's a very good team defender on a team that has altered their pick-and-roll coverage all over the floor in an attempt to correct persistent problems on that end of the floor. Redick is great at helping in those situations and he's pretty good at chasing shooters around screens.
Offensively, the pairing of him and CP3 has been devastating to opponents. He helps the Clippers blow opponents away when on the floor with Paul for around 15 points per 100 possessions. He's mostly just a scorer and a shooter on offense but 16.4 points per game with an absurd 48.5 percent from downtown is the kind of stuff and impact Kyle Korver had in his All-Star season last year. Redick's true shooting percentage is 64.2 percent. He must have just missed the cut.
The coaches maybe did this as a nod to Tim Duncan because they know how much he'd want to have the weekend off to spend with his family. But getting to see him and Gregg Popovich one more time in an All-Star Game sounds like something we're missing out on. We're also missing out on one hell of a player this season. On the second-best team in the league and a team with a historic defense and point differential, Duncan has been almost as important as All-Star starter Kawhi Leonard.
Since 1979, Ben Wallace (twice), Dennis Rodman, Mark Eaton and James Donaldson made the All-Star Game in a season in which they averaged less than nine points per game. Duncan should join that list because while the rebounding and block numbers aren't as gaudy, his defense is just as good as theirs.
