The results of the 2018 NBA All-Star Draft were made public Thursday. We have the full rosters and the comments from your general managers, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. We don’t know the actual order in which the All-Stars were picked, but Tim Cato took a thoughtful stab at figuring it out based on clues and common sense. Matt Ellentuck had six takeaways.
Me? I have your draft grades.
TEAM LEBRON: A+++++
First of all, LeBron drafted Kyrie Irving, the dude who demanded a trade from LeBron’s Cavaliers in the offseason. This is incredible. Some are suggesting King James is showing he holds no ill will toward Kyrie or that he was concerned about having too many big men on his team. (He drafted Kevin Durant, Boogie Cousins, and Anthony Davis along with Kyrie in the starters’ round).
NOPE. LeBron picked Kyrie a) to make him uncomfortable and b) to make him play for an entity literally called TEAM LEBRON (instead of the figurative Team LeBron that the Cavaliers truly are) during the All-Star Game. Incredible.
LeBron also took Durant first, which allowed Durant to get off mad jokes and taunt Curry. He took John Wall, who is one of Rich Paul’s clients, which is hilariously on the nose.
Let’s give LeBron credit too for taking Russell Westbrook whenever he did, because Westbrook was listed last on LeBron’s roster sheet that the NBA published, and it appears Carmelo Anthony convinced Westbrook that meant he was Team LeBron’s last pick.
That led to Westbrook putting 46 on the Wizards in anger in a big Thunder win, only for reporters to confirm with Westbrook after the game that the roster sheets were in alphabetical order, leading to Westbrook yelling at Melo in the locker room, “I told you! Alphabetical order, man!” Someone from the Wizards really ought to have told him during the game. Westbrook is the greatest.
TEAM STEPH: B-
Steph built his team like an actual team. How boring! Perhaps the funniest thing about Team Curry, which might actually win the All-Star Game depending on whether the dudes are actually competitive or if everyone is as hungover as usual, is that Steph picked both DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry from the Raptors. Their coach, Dwane Casey, is a virtual lock to be coaching Team LeBron (since Brad Stevens is ineligible due to coaching All-Star last year). Casey is going to be there to coach against his two best players. How weird!
On a similar line, Mike D’Antoni from the Rockets will be coaching three Warriors. “We need you to play 38 minutes and press the whole game.”
The All-Star Game is Sunday, Feb. 18 on TNT.
Scores Galore ...
SAC 89, MIA 88
WAS 112, OKC 121
NYK 118, DEN 130
MIN 113, GSW 126
... And So Much More
This De’Aaron Fox putback dunk game-winner to give the Kangz their first win in Miami in 16 years is just incredible.
The Jordan Brand All-Star jerseys are totally fine. Very Brooklyn Nets circa 2014 vibe.
So why wasn’t the NBA All-Star Draft televised, again? The players’ union couldn’t get consensus that it ought to be from the players likely to be affected by it. Basically, union management polled potential All-Stars, not everyone wanted it on TV, so it happened on a top-secret conference call instead.
Ty Lue announced the forthcoming Cavaliers’ starting lineup change: Tristan Thompson will start, moving Jae Crowder to the bench. In theory, this plus news that the Kings and Cavs are “far apart” on a George Hill trade could end up with Channing Frye playing more minutes, something a number of smart folks have called for.
How the Blazers use C.J. McCollum off screens.
Why didn’t the Cavs call Kyrie’s bluff and refuse to trade him this summer? Joe Vardon reports Kyrie threatened to have knee surgery and miss the entire season if he wasn’t traded. That’s a big claim!
Spencer Dinwiddie is the Nets’ Danny Green.
OG Anunoby may have hit the rookie wall, but he’s still making the Raptors better.
ESPN has Rockets-Pelicans — a potential first-round matchup — at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. ABC’s Saturday showcase is Celtics-Warriors at 8:30 p.m. ET. No Sunday game on ABC, but ESPN will show Sixers-Thunder at 6 p.m. ET. Here’s the full weekend schedule.
Be excellent to each other.