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What are Victor Oladipo’s chances of making an All-NBA Team?

By Jonathan Macri

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images /
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(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The normal automatics

If you look back through NBA history, you’ll see a trend with the All-NBA teams: more than any other postseason award, guys are rewarded for their presence on elite teams.

This season, there two obvious qualifiers: the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.

(Yes, Toronto Raptors fans, I am aware that your team has virtually the same record as the defending NBA champions. But you play in the junior conference and in a league where perception is everything. We’ll get to your guys in a bit…)

The idea of not having two representatives from both of the league’s premier teams seems…off. There’s a slim chance Draymond Green grabs one of the forward spots, but odds are that the best chance for a second rep from each squad (Kevin Durant is a lock to make the team, along with Harden) lies with their nominal point guards.

Statistically, their cases are airtight.

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    • For starters, Stephen Curry might be having the most efficient season in NBA history. Only once before has a player had a true shooting percentage over 65 (he’s currently at 67.5) with a usage rate over 30: Curry, during his unanimous MVP season two years ago. The big difference, of course, is that Steph appeared in 79 games in 2015-16. This season, he’s going to finish with 51.

    Chris Paul has the same issue. No one in the league combines Paul’s combination of efficiency as both a shooter and a passer. He’s hovering around a usage rate of 25 while keeping his assist-to-turnover ratio above 3.5, dishing nearly eight dimes a night, and shooting absurd percentages (.457/.383/.917). The Rockets have lost seven — SEVEN — games he has played in.

    Unfortunately, if CP3 makes the 60-game threshold, he will do so barely. Is there any precedent for a player appearing in less than 75 percent of a team’s games and making an All-NBA team? What about 62 percent, which is what Curry will end up at?

    Thankfully for these two, there’s some. In the 2006-07 season, Dwyane Wade led the league in Player Efficiency Rating while guiding Miami to a 44-38 record and a division title. He made the All-NBA Third Team while playing only 51 games. Yao Ming made it three times playing under 60 games, including in 2006-07 when he appeared in only 48 – the lowest total in a full-length season for someone that made any of the All-NBA teams this century. He was a center though, a position that’s left a bit to be desired in terms of qualified candidates.

    Most recently, Curry’s teammate KD made the Second Team last year after appearing in only 62 games. The best argument, though, comes from two decades ago. During the last season of the Chicago Bulls’ second three-peat, Scottie Pippen made the Third Team appearing in only 44 games. Steph this season feels a lot like Scottie did then.

    The smart money says that they both make it, and that Paul makes it easily. Over the last 40 seasons, there have been 18 players in non-strike- or lockout-shortened seasons who have made one of the teams playing 60 games or less, according to Basketball-Reference. That number drops to six when you lessen to total to 51. It will be tight, but Curry’s brilliance should carry the day.

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