NBA Eastern & Western Conference Unsung All-Star Snubs

The 2021 NBA All-Star Draft hosted by TNT took place the other night as conference captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant drafted their teams for the big game coming up Sunday afternoon.

When you take a look at the pool of players to choose from, there are a handful interesting tidbits that standout. But the one thing that stood out to me the most was that with Domantas Sabonis being called up as an injured reserved for Durant, 18 of the 30 teams will be represented in the All-Star game. 16 of the 30 spots include eighth of the top duos in the league (trio from Brooklyn if you count Durant along with Kyrie Irving and James Harden). 

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That got me wondering: What about the fan bases that are not as fortunate to see their team represented during All-Star weekend? So, in the spirit of celebrating NBA fandom and providing recognition to the high-level players who occupy the remaining 14 teams, here is my list of the East and West Unsung NBA All-Stars highlighted by some of the best players from the unrepresented teams. 

Eastern Conference

Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors

After securing the bag as they say this past offseason by inking a contract for $85 million over the next four years, VanVleet is already slowly cementing himself as one of the best undrafted players to grace the NBA. The Toronto Raptors have propelled themselves up to 8^th in the east with a record of 17-19 after a very slow start to the season and a lot of that has to do with the play of Fred VanVleet.

So far this season, VanVleet is averaging a career-high 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists on 40% shooting from the floor and 38.3% from three. With rumblings that star Raptor guard Kyle Lowry could be on the move to Philadelphia before the trade deadline, it is only obvious that the Toronto front office feels confident in VanVleet to take the mantle as the next lead guard for a franchise that has had some great players from Vince Carter to Demar DeRozan and of course Lowry. 

Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat

The snubbing of Bam Adebayo feels like one of those things that stems from the Miami Heat’s underwhelming start following the team’s unprecedented run to the 2020 NBA Finals in the Bubble. With guys like Jimmy Butler suffering from Covid-19 and Tyler Herro battling with injuries, this team started out the season losing six of their first 10, but since the beginning of February things have come back to median a bit. 

The Heat are now 6^th in the conference with a record of 18-18 and in February they have won 11 of their 17 games on the back of the Jordan Brand Bros in Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Adebayo is averaging 19.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 56.3% shooting from the floor. He has really taken his game to another as facilitator and a ball handler as one of these point-forwards like hybrids that are slowly taking over the league.

Gordon Hayward, Charlotte Hornets

Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Hornets’ front office has to be feeling pretty good about their offseason acquisition of Gordon Hayward. In spite of all the criticism early in the offseason regarding signing the injury riddled Hayward for four-years, $120 million, Hayward is quietly turning back the clock and looking like the guy who was once the franchise cornerstone of the Utah Jazz. 

Hayward is averaging 21.5 points this season which is the second highest of his career and his best since his All-Star season with Utah back in 2016. Along with that he is grabbing 5.4 boards a game, getting 3.9 assists per game and has near 50-40-90 shooting splits (48.7% from the field, 40.5% from three and 85.7% from the free throw line.) There is no shame in getting caught up in the Lamelo Ball hype as the leading Rookie of the Year candidate has really put the Hornets on the map. But Hayward has arguably been Charlotte’s most consistent player this season and has been the closer for this team as they currently sit at 7^th in the east with a record of 17-18.

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Talk about an underwhelming season so far in Hot-Lanta as the Atlanta Hawks sit in 11^th place with a record of 16-20. They just fired their head coach Lloyd Pierce and their free agent signings have not played very much so far this season. This was a team that made head waves with signings of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari and Rajon Rondo which led many NBA fans to believe that the Hawks were going to take a leap in the East similar to what Phoenix is doing over in the Western Conference right now. Despite the rough start to the season, the obvious bright spit has been Trae Young who unfortunately fell all the way from being an All-Star starter last season to being one of the biggest snubs this year. 

Young has been the driving force per usual for Atlanta, averaging 26.4 points, 9.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds on 43% shooting from the floor and a career-high 37.8% from three. Now he has been a bit of a turn-off for NBA fans with this new style of play he has where he is relying heavily on forcing contact and drawing fouls like how James Harden did all those ears in Houston. Nonetheless, the hope for the Hawks is that under interim head coach Nate McMillan, Young and some of their other young pieces can start stringing some games together to get back on track coming out of the All-Star break. 

Andre Drummond, Cleveland Cavaliers

As a high commodity on the trade and buyout market it was only a matter of time before the Cleveland Cavaliers sat down star big man Andre Drummond with the kind of year he was having. As a topflight big man playing at a high level, protecting an asset was expected and with the four-team trade that helped bring Jarrett Allen in from Brooklyn, Drummond has patiently been sitting in the background waiting to see what his NBA fate entails. 

Prior to being sat down Drummond played in 25 games and averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 47.4% shooting from the field. He was also coming up big on the defensive end with a team-high 1.2 blocks a game and 1.6 steals a game which was second only behind Larry Nance Jr. who has only played 18 games this season. Whether he is dealt via trade or signed out of the buyout market, Drummond is hands down one of the top guys on the market heading into the trade deadline and will covet a lot of calls from NBA contenders looking to make a championship push.

Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons

Last but not least there is the man from the West that came East in Jerami Grant. After betting on himself and passing on an offer from the Denver Nuggets, Grant has showcased a few things that make him a really interesting point-forward like player for a Detroit Pistons team that is desperate to pull some upside from this rough season. 

With the decline of former All-Star forward Blake Griffin, the keys have been handed to Grant and he has not disappointed thus far. As a legit contender for the Most Improved Player Award, Grant has jumped up from 12 points a game last season to 23.4 points this season along with 5.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 43.4% shooting from the field.  Detroit is not a very good team, sitting last in the East with a record of 10-26, but the combination of Jerami Grant and rookie forward Saddiq Bey out of Villanova have shown real upside as pillars for the Pistons to potentially build around.

Western Conference

Malik Beasley, Minnesota Timberwolves

Definitely not the name most people would think of when you talk about All-Stars and the Minnesota Timberwolves. But with Karl Anthony-Towns missing a large portion of the season and D’Angelo Russell not really looking like the All-Star guard we saw in Brooklyn; Beasley has asserted himself as the most reliable and consistent player for Minnesota thus far this season. Now Beasley was hit with a 12-game suspension back on February 25^th due to off court misconduct, but that should not undermine the season he has had so far. 

As the only player for the T-Wolves to start in 30 games or more, Beasley is averaging a career-high 20.5 points along with 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on 45.5% shooting from the floor and 40.6% shooting from three. Similar to Gordon Hayward, Beasley is accompanied by a rookie phenom in Anthony Edwards who is starting to really show flashes of star potential in the last couple of games. Fortunately for Beasley, that slow ascension by Edwards and the return of Karl Anthony-Towns should lighten the load for him when he gets back, but he will surely still get his buckets when the opportunity presents itself.

Christian Wood, Houston Rockets

One of the best feel-good stories in the NBA unfortunately cut a little short in the early stages of the season. After a few stints in the G-League and stints with five different teams in the last five seasons, Christian Wood looked like he had finally found a home in Houston. Unfortunately, the hype around the big man took a drastic turn as he sprained his right ankle 17 games into the season in a win over the Memphis Grizzlies in the beginning of February. 

But prior to his injury, Wood was looking like one of the best stretch-bigs in the league and may have been running away with the Most Improved Player Award. Through 17 games, Wood was averaging 22 points, and 10.2 rebounds on 55.8% shooting from the floor and a career-high 42.1% from behind the arc. Houston could really use him right now as they have lost their last 12 and if he does return to play following the All-Star break as anticipated, he has the talent to potentially lift the Rockets up to 10^th in the West with a puncher’s chance in the Play-In games.

Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies

Speaking of the Memphis Grizzlies and the 10^th seed, star guard Ja Morant has Memphis in the mix for a chance to make a real playoff push in this second of the season. The sophomore sensation kicked off the season with 44 points and nine assists in the season-opening loss to the San Antonio Spurs and has not really looked back since. 

Despite missing eight games early in the season due to an ankle injury against the Philadelphia 76ers, Morant has burst back onto the scene averaging 19.8 points, 7.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds on 45.4% shooting from the floor and has of course given us a handful of highlight poster dunks along the way. Not to mention that he is doing all this and keeping this team afloat without their former No.4 overall pick Jaren Jackson available. Morant has been a force thus far and coming out of the All-Star break, no one should be surprised if the Grizzlies make another push to the playoffs like they did last season with a real shot to make into the final eight in the West.

De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings 

The Sacramento Kings currently sit in the 13thh spot with a record of 14-22, but you cannot blame De’Aaron Fox for the team’s lackluster season thus far. Sacramento is the 9^th highest scoring team in the NBA with 114.7 points a game and that has a lot to do with the play of their star guard. Fox is averaging career-highs in points (23) and assists (7.6) along with 3.2 rebounds on 46.6% shooting from the floor and 34.2% from three. This team has some great pieces with guys like rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton and former NBA champion small forward Harrison Barnes, but everybody knows that the Kings go as Fox goes.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

The pronounced “Face of the Oklahoma City Thunder” in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has really accepted and embraced his newly established role while taking yet another large step development-wise in Year 3. So far this season he is averaging 23.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 51.1% shooting from the floor and 41.2% from three. Gilgeous-Alexander is hands down the Thunder’s best player right now alongside nice, young pieces like Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley as Oklahoma City looks to treat this year as a building year for their young core to develop as they head into a full rebuild. With a record of 15-21 placing them at 12^th in the Western Conference, the Thunder may not seem like a dangerous team but as long as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the floor, they have the potential to pull off the “upset” on a nightly basis.

Demar DeRozan, San Antonio Spurs

Probably one of the biggest All-Star snubs of them all alongside guys like Khris Middleton and Mike Conley. The San Antonio Spurs are punching above their weight at 18-14, putting them at 7^th in the West and a lot of that is because of the play of Demar DeRozan. 

DeRozan has been a swiss army knife for this young Spurs team as he is doing a little bit of everything on the floor for them. If Gregg Popovich needs him to facilitate as a point guard and go get ten assists, he will go get ten assists. If Popovich needs him to guard the one through the four defensively, he will take on the assignments defensively. 

DeRozan is definitely suffering from Small Market Syndrome because if it were not for the fact that the Spurs are not a team that is nationally televised often, he would more than likely receive a lot more praise in this voting poll. So far this season he is averaging 20 points per game, 4.9 rebounds and a career-high 7.2 assists on 48.4% shooting from the field. The man has put the team on his back and San Antonio has pretty much outperformed expectations thus far, which is even more impressive when you factor in that they have not gotten much production from former All-Star forward Lamarcus Aldridge.