Blogtable: Will DeMar DeRozan make West All-Star team next season?
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Do you see DeMar DeRozan making the Western Conference All-Star team next season?
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Steve Aschburner: Are we really concerned about this now? Or even, like, ever? I’ll just go by the numbers. Twelve of the 15 all-NBA selections off last season will play in the West in 2018-19, including LeBron James and DeRozan. That’s the proper number for an All-Star roster, so my answer is yes. Then again, if DeRozan gets squeezed out – guys such as Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul weren’t among the all-NBA picks yet still might earn trips to Charlotte – so be it. He’s been an All-Star four times already. What he needs to do is help his new team to the Finals, however a long shot that seems. It definitely would be the NBA version of the old saying, “Living well is the best revenge.”
Tas Melas: Great question. James Harden, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday … There is a real chance he doesn’t unless there is some roster reform. I’ll guess he does because of the team’s win total. Then again, the “gotta take a Spur because of their record” slot might go to LaMarcus Aldridge, but DeMar’s numbers being superior to Aldridge’s will get him in.
Shaun Powell: No, even though there’s a shortage of elite two-guards in the NBA, the competition is too stiff. He had an advantage in the East, where nobody could get buckets like him at the position.
John Schuhmann: There are three locks at Western Conference guard: Stephen Curry, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Beyond that, DeRozan should be in a group with Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Klay Thompson, with Donovan Mitchell possibly in the mix. He certainly has a chance, but I’d put it somewhere below 50 percent.
Sekou Smith: I hate it for DeMar DeRozan, but his days of making trips to the All-Star Game are likely over, at least in the next couple of seasons. LeBron James moving to Los Angeles and the Lakers snatches another available spot. But it was going to be a tough get anyway, what with Paul George joining the potential party last season as well. DeRozan’s still a fantastic player. His circumstance might have changed seemingly in an instant. That doesn’t mean he’s any less of a player.
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