MUST READ: My 2020 All Star Picks

My NBA all-star team picks for 2020 were made on Jan 20, the last day for voting. This article can be found on my website in my facebook bio: ohonsi-nba.blogspot.com.

West Starters
Backcourt: James Harden (Rockets)
Backcourt: Luka Doncic (Mavs)
Frontcourt: Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
Frontcourt: LeBron James (Lakers)
Frontcourt: Anthony Davis (Lakers)
West Reserves
Backcourt: Damian Lillard (Blazers)
Backcourt: Russell Westbrook (Rockets)
Frontcourt: Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
Frontcourt: Karl-Anthony Towns (Wolves)
Frontcourt: Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
Wild card: Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
Wild card: Devin Booker (Suns)
East Starters
Backcourt: Trae Young (Hawks)
Backcourt: Bradley Beal (Wizards)
Frontcourt: Jimmy Butler (Heat)
Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Frontcourt: Joel Embiid (Sixers)
East Reserves
Backcourt: Kemba Walker (Celtics)
Backcourt: Zach Lavine (Bulls)
Frontcourt: Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
Frontcourt: Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
Frontcourt: Domantas Sabonis (Pacers)
Wild card: Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
Wild card: Jayson Tatum (Celtics)

I determine how players make my team (and their spots on my team) based on these factors: team success (the factor with the least impact), overall performance (offense/defense/rebounding), how much offensive responsibility one has (basically how good their supporting cast is), games played, and most importantly (by far) how skilled they are offensively. Being able to create enough space off the dribble to score and/or being a reliable back-to-the-basket scorer are by far the most valuable skills on a basketball court. So players who lack the necessary isolation talent to be a true NBA star will always have an extremely difficult time making my team every year despite the over-the-top hype they receive from the fans and media who lack an understanding of one of the fundamental aspects of the game. Therefore players such as Bam Adebayo, Rudy Gobert, and Ben Simmons (who are still very impactful players; Simmons actually made my team last year) are not on my team.

FYI a lock in this case means there should be no debate on a player being a starter or reserve.

West

There should be no debate whatsoever on who should be starting in the west so this should be the lineup in the actual game.

The reserves, except Ingram and Booker, are locks as well. The Pelicans, Suns, and Blazers have similar records (and are 10, 6, and 8 games below average respectively) but the reason why only Lillard is a lock is because he's been much better than Ingram and Booker. Also a legit argument can be made that DeMar DeRozan deserves the spots occupied by Ingram or Booker.

Even though Towns has played in 25 of his team's (a 15-28 team) 42 games he's averaging 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. He's also shooting 51% from the field and 41% from three-point range (on 9 attempts as a 248 lb, 6'11 center). He would've had to miss way more games for me to deny him a spot because his production, especially at his size, is absolutely unheard of in ANY era.

George has missed a similar amount of games but despite playing at a legit all-star level for a championship contender, he's nowhere near Towns' dominance and thus doesn't get an automatic spot. George has played in only 60% of his team's games, is way behind Kawhi as the second best player on his team, and hasn't blow anybody's socks off with his performance. Therefore he barely misses the cut for my all-star team.

DeRozan is criticized a lot for his basically non-existent three-point shot because he's a perimeter player. Unfortunately, that criticism has greatly clouded his season as a 54% (historically great for someone with around the same usage rate) shooter from the field with averages of 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. That stat line, a LeBron-esque one no less, is definitely deserving of all-star consideration even though he didn't make my list. On a related note, don't sleep on Booker's 27 points per game on 51% shooting from the field..

East
For the starters, sans Butler, the same description for the west applies here.

Butler, Siakam, and Sabonis (who are locks) are basically even. Butler gets the starting nod because he has a slight advantage over the rest in terms of the factors I use to determine how players stack up against one another.

Spencer Dinwiddie deserves major props for keeping the Nets afloat in the playoff hunt despite Kyrie Irving's absence. (Irving would be starting over Beal if he'd played way more than 36% of his team's games). Besides the aforementioned players on the Nets, Brooklyn has nobody performing anywhere near an all-star level but they're an 18-24 team which hurts Dinwiddie's all-star case just enough for him to not get a spot.

Take the last sentence and start from the comma. Then insert Lavine for Dinwiddie and note that Chicago is worse than Brooklyn. However, Lavine is clearly the better player and Chicago is only 2.5 games back of Brooklyn.

Lowry, who remains one of the league's better all-around players, has stepped up greatly from last season because he's taken far more control of Toronto's offense after an annoyingly passive 2018-19 season. But despite being on a much lesser squad, Lavine is on a franchise-player type level that Lowry simply can't reach on a consistent basis. So the eye test hurts Lowry in this case which is why Lavine is ahead of him in my lineup. A legit argument can be made that there's no clear answer to who's the best Celtic out of the 3 I selected. But Brown has been way more efficient than Tatum, therefore Brown gets higher than a wild card spot. There's a significant gap between Lowry and Toronto's best player (Siakam) so Walker gets the advantage over Lowry.

Vucevic plays on a team that hardly gets any national coverage and is 21-23. Along with the fact that he's not a household name, I highly doubt that he'll be voted (even by the coaches) into the actual game despite his performance as a legitimate all-star. Sabonis has the same problems except his squad is competing for the second best record in the east, so I have more faith in him being selected. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make it either.

Sadly, the popularity contest (coaches, along with fans and media members, get fooled by this too) that works against Vucevic and Sabonis will likely favor Adebayo (especially), Gobert, and Simmons.