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NBA: 10 candidates to be 1st-time All-Stars in 2019-20

By Josh Cornelissen

EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 13: DeAaron Fox (L) and Jayson Tatum (R) smile at the 2019 USA Men's National Team World Cup training camp at UCLA Health Training Center on August 13, 2019 in El Segundo, California. (Photo by Cassy Athena/Getty Images,)
EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 13: DeAaron Fox (L) and Jayson Tatum (R) smile at the 2019 USA Men's National Team World Cup training camp at UCLA Health Training Center on August 13, 2019 in El Segundo, California. (Photo by Cassy Athena/Getty Images,) /
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The NBA is filled with young talent, and an offseason of player movement means there is the opportunity for a number of 1st-time All-Stars in 2019-20

The NBA employs somewhere around 510 players each season, with a larger number currently on team rosters as training camps approach. Of those 550 or so players just 61 have ever made an All-Star Game, or roughly 55 if we remove players who have or are likely to retire.

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That means just 10 percent of the league has made an All-Star Game, suggesting that players with a proven pedigree have an advantage over younger and less established players in making All-Star status. Even so, every year new players stand out and force their way into recognition.

Last season five players made the All-Star Game for the first time: Nikola Jokic, D’Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Khris Middleton and Ben Simmons.

With Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both set to miss most of the season, and Paul George and Victor Oladipo likely to miss enough time at the start of the year to miss the All-Star Game, there is an opportunity for another few players to make their first team.

Last year’s first-time All-Stars highlight a few different categories those players can find themselves in. One is the most obvious, young players taking a leap forward in their development, such as Jokic or Russell. The second category are players in a new opportunity, such as Middleton playing in an entirely new system that elevated his play and his team’s success.

Finally Vucevic is a veteran who provided multiple years of fringe All-Star level play, only to put together a strong season at the right time to make his way onto the team.

Looking ahead, what players can fit into one of these categories and make their first All-Star team? While there are plenty of players with an outside chance, here are 10 (or so) players with the best chance at making their first All-Star Game in the 2019-20 NBA season.