NBA All-Star Game 2018: Five potential replacements for the injured Kevin Love

Who could take Kevin Love's place in the All-Star Game?

Kevin Love won't be able to play in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game due to a broken left hand he suffered on Tuesday. He's reportedly expected to miss six to eight weeks while he recovers. This could obviously impact the Cavaliers in the playoff race, but what does this means for his spot in the All-Star Game?

Love is in the midst of a strong season for the Cavs, and his selection wasn't really debated. With Love out of the picture, however, who's going to take his spot? Here are some potential candidates now that the obvious replacement, Andre Drummond, has already taken the place of John Wall.

Lou Williams has been the biggest snub of the All-Star Game. He's had an incredible season and many people thought he deserved to get in over players like John Wall in the first place. He got snubbed again when the league chose to put in Paul George to replace DeMarcus Cousins at the forward spot.

Williams is a deserving All-Star this season playing the best basketball of his career. He has a career-high 23.5 points per game, 5.2 assists and has played a crucial role in keeping the injured Clippers afloat. He had a 50-point game this season. If the NBA passes over Williams again it's going to be for something that should have been abolished along with the new format: Conferences.

Williams is the best guard available, but because Love represents the Eastern Conference, the NBA will likely choose someone from the East even though the All-Star Game this season has no conference affiliations with the teams. It's a silly reason that will likely keep out a deserving All-Star.

When All-Star Game projections were being made it was common to see the final spot in the East come down to two guys: Kemba Walker and Wall. The Hornets might have a record well below .500, but that isn't due to lack of effort from Walker. The Hornets would be far worse off without him.

When Walker is on the floor, the Hornets have a net rating of 5.2. That's the second-highest mark on the team behind only Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. However, when Walker is off the floor, the Hornets' net rating plummets to -13.2. Charlotte is completely hopeless when Walker is off the floor, and this goes beyond its weak bench depth.

It's common that All-Stars are rewarded for winning games. While Walker hasn't done a lot of that, he's more than made up for it in his individual performances. He's carried the Hornets at every turn and they've done nothing to help him. He could at least have his struggles rewarded with an All-Star appearance. 

Ben Simmons has been fantastic for the 76ers this season. It's easy to say he's not a true rookie, because he's a redshirt, but that's what he's listed as and it's made him one of the sharpest rookies in a long time. He's played the role of point guard for Philadelphia ever since Markelle Fultz started missing time due to a shoulder injury and he's thrived in the role.

However, the super rookie still has some flaws that could hold him back. One of them being that he simply doesn't carry the Sixers the same way other All-Stars on this list does. He does have a positive net rating, and that's largely a good sign for them, but others on his team such as Robert Covington, Joel Embiid, and even JJ Redick have found ways to leave a stronger impact on the team. 

Simmons will also see some doubt just because he's a rookie. Young guys typically don't play in the All-Star Game. 

The Heat are doing that mid-season thing where they turn things around again and Goran Dragic has played a big part in that. He hasn't been as good as he was last season, but Miami is finding some chemistry for Dragic. Injuries to ball-dominant players like Dion Waiters and Hassan Whiteside have allowed Dragic the freedom to explore and that's when he's at his best. 

Dragic in the pick-and-roll with some of the younger guys like Bam Adebayo is always fun to watch. He always finds ways to get them involved on offense even if it doesn't always lead to an assist. Dragic is the heart of the team, but like Simmons, there are other players on the roster that has made a larger impact than him. Josh Richardson and even Wayne Ellington have both been far more consistent.

Has Dragic been good enough to get a spot over the others on this list? Probably not. He's deserving to be in the conversation, but that's about as far as his candidacy is going to go.

Now wouldn't this be something? Griffin was traded to the Pistons on Monday, which technically makes him a member of the Eastern Conference even though he hasn't played a game yet for Detroit. Griffin has missed 16 games due to injury, but has played well when he's been on the floor. His 5.4 assists per game would be a career high, and he's making nearly two 3-pointers per game while shooting 34 percent from deep.

Love's spot likely won't go to Griffin, but he's an intriguing option since he was just added to the Eastern Conference player pool on Monday.