The 2025 NBA All-Star Starters were announced last Thursday. Of course, just like when any award or accolade is announced, the list of starters sparked many arguments on social media. Should Stephen Curry have gotten the nod as a starter? Or should it have been Anthony Edwards? Kyrie Irving? Or De’Aaron Fox? Are LeBron James and Kevin Durant really worthy starters? Or should Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis start instead?
No matter how much you debate these topics, they really do not matter at the end of the day since most of the “snubs” will probably still make the roster as a reserve.
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With this being said, the debates for the reserves are far harder to decide, especially for the end-of-the-bench guys. The roster comprises two guards, three frontcourts, and two extra at any position — let’s call them Wild Cards.
Here is who I would pick for NBA All-Star Reserves if it were my choice.
Stats Glossary
Eastern Conference
Guards: Damian Lillard, Darius Garland
Both of these guards have been awesome this year in their own ways.
Lillard has been awesome with his scoring and efficiency. He is one of three players in the league averaging 25.0 PPG and 7.0 APG while shooting 38 percent from three, with the other two being Nikola Jokic and Jalen Brunson.
Garland has been great with his efficiency and playmaking. He is averaging 21.7 PPG, 6.8 APG, and shooting 42.5 percent from three; only Jokic is matching those numbers.
I do not believe that either of them got snubbed from being starters, but it would be a crime if they did not make the roster at all.
You throw passes like this when you’re in your bag 😮💨😮💨
Darius Garland zipping a BEAUTY over to Jarrett Allen! pic.twitter.com/IaLhdycwIP
— NBA (@NBA) January 28, 2025
Frontcourt: Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Jaylen Brown
The frontcourt players were a little harder to decide than the guards.
However, it was not hard to pick Mobley. Even though he is not a great playmaker, Mobley is still playing like a top-five defender in the league, scoring a good amount of points, and being insanely efficient.
For Allen, he has an interesting argument. On one hand, it takes an infrequent scenario for a team to have four All-Stars. However, the Cavaliers are in a situation where it makes sense. They are playing like one of the best teams of the decade without having a top-10 player on their team. So how does this happen? It usually happens with great coaching and great depth of talent. Allen has taken a step back with his scoring but has still been very efficient and elite on defense.
The last frontcourt spot was tough, mainly because the candidates have been somewhat disappointing. I am a bigger fan of Brown than anyone, but he has not played like an All-Star the past few weeks. However, even with his struggles, he is one of five players to be averaging 23.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 1.3 SPG, with the others being Jokic, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Anthony Davis. At the end of the day, even with all the disappointment, he is still finding ways to contribute as one of the better two-way players in the game.
Wild Card: Cade Cunnigham, Tyrese Haliburton
As I mentioned, the front-court spot was pretty thin, so going with two guards for the Wild Card spots was pretty easy.
That is especially the case for Cunnigham. The Pistons had not won over 23 games since 2019. Now, 46 games in, they are 23-23. Cunningham has been the main reason for Detroit’s surge. Now that their former No. 1 overall pick is playing at an All-Star level, the Pistons have a lot to look forward to.
With Haliburton, he did not have as strong of a first half as he did last year, but he has still been super solid. He is one of three players to average 18.0 PPG and 8.0 APG while shooting 36.5 percent from three.
Cade Cunningham tonight:
32 Points
9 Assists
5 Rebounds
54% FG pic.twitter.com/yRYQSm5y37— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 30, 2025
East Honorable Mentions
Trae Young, Tyler Herro, Tyrese Maxey, Pascal Siakam
Western Conference
Guard: Anthony Edwards, Kyrie Irving
The Western Conference was a lot harder to decide than the East — especially for the guards.
Many argued that Anthony Edwards should have gotten the nod as one of the two starters. While I disagree, he sure has a good argument. After all, the only other player who scores as much as he does while shooting as well from three is Jokic. While I stand by my decision to take Curry over Edwards due to impact, I do not think either choice is incorrect.
ANTHONY EDWARDS MY GOODNESS.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 30, 2025
The second guard pick was super hard, and it came down to Irving and Fox. Both deserve an All-Star spot, but I went with Irving for a couple of reasons. First of all, he has been more consistent all season long. While Fox has probably had the higher peak this year, Kyrie has led his team (without Doncic) for more than half of the season, and he has done an awesome job. Additionally, Irving’s impact is far superior to Fox’s. Kyrie has a 5.5 on/off, while Fox has a -3.6 on/off. All in all, while Fox averages the better per-game stats, Irving’s efficiency, impact, and winning are more important to me.
Frontcourt: Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Alperen Sengun
For the frontcourt, it was easy picking the first two. Given that I thought that both Wembanyama and Davis should have gotten the nod as starters over LeBron and Durant, giving them reserve spots was a no-brainer. Both have been playing like top-10 players.
The last one was a little tougher. While there were multiple great options, I went with Sengun because he has contributed to winning the most. He is one of four players to average 19.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 5.1 APG. The others are Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Domantas Sabonis. While I would like to see his three-point percentage increase, a guy who scores a lot of points, rebounds a ton, and gets a good amount of assists for a center will always contribute a whole lot to winning.
Wild Card: Jaren Jackson Jr., Domantas Sabonis
Picking the last two Wild Cards was difficult.
The first spot went to Jackson because it would feel very silly to see a top-three Western Conference team have zero All-Stars. Even if you take the individual team out of the picture, Jackson still deserves a spot because of the awesome season he’s having. He is the only player in the league to average 1.6 BPG and 1.4 SPG. In addition to being one of the best defensive players in the game, he is averaging 22.8 PPG on nearly 50 percent of the field. A guy who is playing filthy defense and is also averaging over 20 points per game with great efficiency on a top-three team in the West deserves to be an All-Star.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has been awarded NBA Player of the Week for the Western Conference.
JJJ during this span:
25.8 PPG
6.3 RPG
2.5 APG
1.5 BPG
4-0Him. 🦄 pic.twitter.com/pv30RC9vCN
— GrizzMuse (@GrizzlyMuse) January 27, 2025
Choosing a player for the last spot was especially tough. While I could have easily gone with Sabonis’s teammate, De’Aaron Fox, I went with Sabonis because of his impact. I already mentioned Fox’s poor on/off earlier, but Sabonis’s is over 10 points. That is a nearly 14-point difference per 100 possessions. So, while some people might go with Fox because he averages more points, steals, and blocks, I think Sabonis has clearly been the more important player on the Kings.
West Honorable Mentions
More Analysis
Interested in learning more about Chris Driscoll’s process and selections? Watch his detailed breakdown below.
Main Image Credit:
January 25, 2025,Paris, France: San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama signals to the San Antonio Spurs basket during the second quarter of the NBA Paris Games game against the Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena in Paris, France Saturday, January 25, 2025. (Photo by Reginald Thomas II/San Antonio Spurs)
