NBA: 5 Players That Deserve First All-Star Appearance

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Dec 7, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Karl-Anthony Towns

The Minnesota Timberwolves are on the outside looking in right now, currently holding onto the 10th spot in the West. If they can keep playing like they’ve been playing this season, they might be able to steal a playoff spot. They’re one of the more intriguing stories this season.

At the center of it all (I’m here all week) is Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2015 draft. He hasn’t disappointed at all despite the pressure of being picked first, and has helped elevate the young Wolves from bottom-feeder to possible playoff contender.

Towns is in a grind to try and win the Rookie of the Year award, since Kristaps Porzingis has gone toe-to-toe with him so far. So you might be wondering why I picked KAT, then.

Basically, the answer is just that I think Towns is a smidgeon better than Zinger.

Here are their averages side-by-side:

2015-16 KAT: 15.3 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.0 APG, 2.2 BPG, 53.2 FG%, 28.1 MPG
2015-16 Zinger: 14.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.8B PG, 45.4 FG%, 27.4 MPG

Nearly identical, but as I said, Towns is a slight cut above. He is the only rookie with a PER of 20 or better (21.9), and out of the four other newbies (Zinger, D’Angelo Russell, Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay) who can attempt to contend with him for ROY, Towns has done all of his damage in the fewest total minutes (591).

He’s also been the most efficient scorer among the rookie class, leading the way with a true shooting percentage of 57.9. In fact, Towns and Porzingis are the only two rookies with a true shooting percentage that exceeds 50 percent.

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Stepping out of the rookie crowd, KAT is one of 15 players in the league as a whole who is averaging at least 15 points, eight boards and a true shooting percentage of 50. Some of the other names on that list? Paul George, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Paul Millsap, Brook Lopez, Chris Bosh and LaMarcus Aldridge. Pretty good company.

Towns has posted 10 double-doubles this season already (tied with Porzingis), some of them coming against significantly good teams. His best one, however, was arguably the matchup he had against No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell and the Lakers.

Towns dropped 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks on 57.9 percent shooting. He came up with some big buckets in that game too, which was a close one that ended up going to overtime.

There have only been 45 players in NBA history who have been selected to the All-Star team in their first season. The last three to do it were Blake Griffin (2011), Yao Ming (2003) and Tim Duncan (1998).

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Week 7

Rookies making the cut doesn’t happen very often, but this is one of the better classes in the last few years. It feels only fitting that the top dog should carve a spot for himself on the roster. Fans won’t select him, so let’s hope the coaches do.