NBA: Best current players to never make an All-Star game

1. CJ McCollum

The Injury to injury to CJ McCollum this season keeps him on this list because there was no doubt the Portland Trail Blazer was going to make his first appearance this season before being sidetracked by a left foot injury. For much of the early season, he was actually the best player for Portland, stunning for a team with Damian Lillard. There has long been a debate on if the Blazers should break up their backcourt to bring in another star. The truth is, they have two stars, even if McCollum has not made the game of yet.

In his 13 games this season CJ McCollum was unbelievable, averaging 26.7 points, 5.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game with shooting splits of .473/.441/844. For the first 13 games of the season, he was ninth in the league in scoring and attempted the second-most 3-point shots per game (11.0), just behind Stephen Curry’s league-leading 11.1 per game. He is third among players this season in 3-point percentage of anyone who has attempted at least 6.0 per game.

CJ McCollum deserves this recognition and so do the Portland Trail Blazers. They have been one of the most consistent franchises, from a winning perspective, since Damian Lillard joined the team, no matter who is in the lineup.

Until this season McCollum was often the only other constant and shows regularly that he would be the best player on many other teams. His compatibility with Lillard keeps them in title contention, however, so being the second All-Star on an elite team will have to suffice.