>In the West...I have to think the locks are Steph, Draymond,
>Gobert, Mitchell, CP3, Booker, Ja, Luka, Bron, and Jokic. I'd
>imagine PG and AD will likely be named as well, but won't
>play. So that leaves probably 2 spots up for grabs as it
>stands.

I agree down the line, really. Even with the selections that need injury subs. For the injury subs, I'd imagine Ayton and Towns would be the favorites. Shai and Dejounte both deserve consideration, but they'll prob miss out due to the teams just not being good enough.

>The the East...locks are KD, Harden, Giannis, DeRozan, LaVine,
>Embiid, Trae. Definitely going to have someone from Cleveland
>of course (Garland? Mobley? I dunno enough about the Cavs to
>be honest). I imagine Jimmy will get in but we'll see how bad
>his injury is. Right today I'd think LaMelo would get in too.
>But there's probably 2-3 spots up for grabs here.

The locks are in. Jimmy's in. Melo's in. So, by my count, three spots left, plus a fourth to possibly sub for Jimmy (though I think he'll be okay by the ASG).

Gotta think Jarrett Allen is the Cav here. Top 10 in the NBA in RPG, Top 15 in BPG. Leads the NBA in 2PT FG%. 4th in the NBA in win shares (!!), and Top 5 in both ORtg and DRtg. Garland's the leading scorer, but I think Allen is the better story. Everyone dismissed the multiple bigs lineup construction (myself included) and shit on the money they paid Allen (myself included). He's proved everyone wrong. Great narrative there.

Jayson Tatum's almost certainly going to be in. Even with his struggles shooting the ball, he's doing 26/9/4. Plus I think a lot of these multi-year guys, unless they really suck, they get back in on general principle. Even though they're play-in bound, in all likelihood, he's still their best player and one of the most electric two-way players in the league when he's going. (I'd put Beal in a similar situation, but his season's been *real* bad, worse than Tatum's, and the newcomers are getting more of the credit for the Wizards' relative success this year than he is, really.)

I'm going to make the case here for the final slot to be Fred VanVleet. Another terrific narrative. Everyone loves this guy. He's Toronto's best player this season, and he's got them in position to make the play-in right now, something I don't think a lot of people had. Top 20 in the NBA in PPG, APG, SPG, and plus-minus-- and he's leading the NBA in minutes played. I think he deserves a reserve spot this year.

I realize Garland is probably the pick for the last spot (Sabonis would contend, but like Shai and Dejounte, the team isn't good enough)... but c'mon. FVV is 28, an undrafted inspiration to little goomba guards everywhere. Make Garland the first injury sub and put FVV in the mix.

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