5 players most likely to make their first NBA All-Star team in 2019

5. Ben Simmons

A lot has been made about Ben Simmons and his lack of anything resembling an outside jumper. The general public knew this was his biggest weakness, but for the 22-year-old to have seemingly made no noticeable improvement from his rookie to sophomore season has been frustrating to watch.

Having said that, it’s pretty crazy how easily people forget just how good he is, having set the bar extremely high during his inaugural NBA campaign.

Simmons is currently averaging 15.9 points on 57.8 percent shooting to go along with 9.4 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. The unwillingness to shoot even elbow jumpers has been baffling, but those numbers put him into the rarified air of guys like LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.

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Despite currently residing in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers find themselves with a 23-13 record — a six-game improvement over last season through 36 games — partly due to Simmons’ abilities with the ball in his hands.

An argument could be made for the 6’10” point guard to already have an All-Star appearance under his belt after he was snubbed last season for Goran Dragic as an injury replacement for Kevin Love, but with incredible numbers on a winning team, it’ll be hard to keep him off the squad this time around.