Detroit Pistons: The case for Blake Griffin as an All-Star

The Detroit Pistons’ leading candidate for All-Star weekend is Blake Griffin. If he doesn’t make it, it would be a great disservice to his season thus far.

The Detroit Pistons currently sit at 17-19 and eighth in the Eastern Conference. If it weren’t for the stellar play of power forward Blake Griffin, that record could look much worse. Griffin is averaging 24.8 points to go with 8.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. With the increased volume, Griffin has also been able to maintain stellar efficiency with a slash line of .467/.363/.740.

There have been many nights so far that Griffin has singlehandedly carried the team to a victory, including a career-high 50-point game earlier in the season. The argument could easily be made that Griffin belongs in the MVP conversation despite the team’s lackluster performance as a whole.

The acquisition of Griffin last season was slightly questionable with the pieces Detroit had to give up, but he is proving the team made the right call.

With the All-Star Game just a little over a month away, the voting is getting all the more important to make sure the Pistons have at least one representative at the weekend’s festivities. Andre Drummond has been present in the voting, but Griffin is the most deserving player for more than a few reasons. If you’re unsure whether you should be using a vote on Griffin, then let’s relax that unease with some of those reasons you should vote him to Charlotte.

The first voting returns came back with Griffin at sixth in the Eastern Conference frontcourt. Among those above him are Jimmy Butler of the Philadelphia 76ers and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. While both of them have played well for better teams at this point, neither of them has played as well as Griffin. Butler is averaging fewer points, assists and rebounds, and he is also shooting a lower percentage from the floor than Griffin.

Griffin is the player that opposing teams focus on the most every single night, yet he continues to produce on a nightly basis. Ultimately, the voting is a popularity contest, which makes sense for fans wanting to see their favorite players on All-Star weekend, but that doesn’t mean a player like Griffin should miss out because he isn’t the fresh young face that Tatum is for the Celtics.

Tatum has regressed after the breakout rookie season he had last year. He’s currently averaging 16.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. These numbers are worse than Griffin’s, and he’s also shooting a lower percentage from the field at 44.9 percent. Griffin’s team may not be playing as well as Tatum’s or Butler’s, but that is no reason for them to be there above Griffin.

In addition to being a very deserving candidate, Griffin is an exciting player to watch. He’s not quite the explosive dunker that he was earlier in his career, but he can still throw it down when afforded the opportunity. All-Star weekend has devolved into a 5-on-5 offensive showdown in the last few years, with many players taking the opportunity to try on things they can’t normally do in a game.

The Flyin’ Lion hasn’t been to an All-Star game since the 2014-15 season. This year is his best chance to fix that as long as he remains healthy, because there haven’t been many players in the Eastern Conference that have outperformed him thus far.

If he is able to make it and link up with a ball-handler that can throw him some lobs, he should put up a couple of highlight reel plays on All-Star weekend.