NBA: Top 10 candidates to be first-time All-Stars in 2017-18

1. Karl-Anthony Towns

To be perfectly honest, Karl-Anthony Towns had a compelling case for an All-Star spot last year. Unfortunately, his strongest surge of the season wasn’t until after the break, and the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ lack of success in the win column held him back.

Neither one of those things will happen again in 2017-18. KAT wound up averaging 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game on .542/.367/.832 shooting splits for the season, putting up a whopping 28.4 points and 13.4 rebounds per game after the break.

The arrivals of Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague might take some shots away, but Towns is still the centerpiece of this organization’s path back to prominence. With more established talent around him, his job will be easier and the Timberwolves should be somewhere in the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Next: 10 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season

It was only a matter of time before KAT earned his first All-Star bid, and 2017-18 certainly feels like the starting point. As the best player on an almost certain playoff team, a lot would have to go wrong for Towns to miss out on the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.