How Many Los Angeles Clippers Should Be All-Star Starters?
The annual National Basketball Association’s marquee midseason event, All-Star weekend, is fast approaching. How many players on the Los Angeles Clippers’ roster will be participating in the event?
I filled out my first online ballot today, voting for the starters, and I had both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin starting. It is debatable whether either, let alone both, deserve to be starting based on their performance so far this season.
Paul’s biggest rivals for a starting spot are Stephen Curry, of the first-place Golden State Warriors, and James Harden, of the Houston Rockets. Paul averages more assists per 36 minutes than either, at 9.7, while Curry and Harden average 8.3 and 6.6, respectively.
Curry is the most efficient of the three, averaging 24.7 points per 36 minutes, on 49 percdent shooting. Paul only shoots 47 percent, and scores just more than 18 points per 36 minutes. Harden is a much more prolific scorer, at 26.6 points per 36 minutes, but he only shoots 44 percent.
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It was a very tough choice to take only two of the three, as all of them were worthy candidates. However, Curry’s team sits atop the Western Conference while Paul leads the team with the best offense in the conference. Harden is a fantastic player, who scores often in a variety of ways.
However, Paul makes the Clippers’ top offense go, as his steady play and veteran leadership was the catalyst to turn this once moribund franchise into legitimate contenders.
Stephen Curry’s shooting is clearly the best of any star player in the NBA, and his play-making ability is just as dangerous. Harden might score more and shoot more free throws, but Curry strikes far more fear into the hearts of opposing players and coaches.
There is also a stylistic preference here, with Paul’s ruthless efficiency and Curry’s ridiculous hot streaks far more enjoyable than the prolific if somewhat unloved free throw parade used by Harden. Not only that, but I can see Curry or Paul coming in big in the playoffs, while it is difficult to see Harden carrying his team to a series win.
On the other hand, including Blake Griffin as an all-star starter was probably the more questionable of the two. Griffin is scoring more this season, but his efficiency is down along with more of his peripheral stats. Nevertheless, Griffin is the best big man on the league’s best offense.
His competition should be familiar by now. Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, and Zach Randolph. Griffin clearly has a better all-around game than Duncan, Nowitzki, and Randolph, while Aldridge is averaging fewer points per 36 minutes(22.6 to 22.9), while shooting only 45 percent, compared to the 48 percent of Griffin.
Aldridge is grabbing more rebounds, but that easily could be because of the presence of glass-cleaning center DeAndre Jordan, compared to the serviceable Robin Lopez, a far inferior rebounder.
Advanced statistics show the two are just about even with Aldridge having the slightest of edges in win shares, at 3.8 to the 3.7 of Griffin. Aesthetically, while I love a LaMarcus Aldridge turnaround jumper, you cannot beat those monster jams that Blake Griffin brings to the table. He is on the short list of dunk contest contenders who play in the front-court.
Griffin also has impressed me with his maturity this year. Check out this article from the LA Times. Griffin explains that coach Doc Rivers game him the opportunity to rest during some of the team’s recent condensed schedule. Griffin turned that offer down, choosing to play each game.
So again while it was very close, and I do not feel completely comfortable with the decision, I went with Griffin over Aldridge. Although the NBA ballot only specifies frontcourt, I tried to be more traditional in choosing my starters, putting together guys that would actually play well together on a real team in a real game.
So adding both Aldridge and Griffin as starters was out of the question, as they play essentially the same position, power forward.
My starting lineup for the west was Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Marc Gasol. I believe they are the five best players in the west. Two Clippers made it, even though the team is not in the top four. Unusual, but given the limitations of the rest of the roster and the crazily compact conference standings, I think it is defensible.
Just in case you were curious, my Eastern starters were Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Jonas Valanciunas.