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

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5. Nikola Jokic

By the time his career is over, Nikola Jokic will be remembered as one of the game’s best passing bigs ever, right up there with Arvydas Sabonis and Bill Walton. That reputation won’t be developed over the course of the upcoming season, but the first All-Star appearance of his career is a reasonable goal.

The Denver Nuggets are a young and exciting team, and with the addition of Paul Millsap, they should be a playoff team. Millsap addresses their sore defensive needs, but Jokic is the headlining act who will earn the majority of All-Star votes if the Nuggets are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture.

The Joker will have a lot more competition for an All-Star spot in the West, but in his 59 starts last year, he put up an impressive 17.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Those numbers are only going to improve for this 22-year-old, which means it’s all coming together for an All-Star spot in 2018.