All-NBA 2019 Predictions

Jake’s All-NBA First Team:

Notable Exclusions:

Nikola Jokic

I genuinely sat down for around an hour trying to pick between Paul George or Nikola Jokic for my final forward spot - in the end I just couldn't snub PG, call me biased but I love a success story, and as impactful as Jokic has been in taking the Nuggets from a 9th seed team to a 2nd seed team in one season, I LOVE the resurgence of Paul George and how he’s come back from the devastating leg injury to be a legitimate MVP candidate for almost the whole regular season barring the final two weeks. He also has the key element of switchable defense that Jokic outright lacks.

LeBron James

Despite putting up standard LeBron James numbers this season, The King wasn't able to take LA to the playoffs - part of that is down to his injury and their dive during his time off the court, but another concern is the lack of defense he had left in the tank this year - too often we saw him taking multiple plays off on the defensive end, something that was devastating for a team without a top tier rim protector - this season the "magic" really seemed to fade, let's hope that LBJ's first full summer off since his rookie season gives him a level of energy going into next season similar to his Miami Heat playoff runs.

G - Stephen Curry

G - James Harden

F - Kevin Durant

F - Giannis Antetokounmpo

F - Paul George

Stephen Curry made the cut here above Westbrook and Lillard, honestly, despite his relative fragility this season there still isn't any point guard in the league more impactful than him. His ability to pull an entire defense away from the hoop and open up cutting and driving lanes for his teammates is almost as valuable as his ridiculous handles and shooting ability, just the fear alone that he instils in other teams is enough to give the Warriors the upper hand over most teams. James Harden is an absolute lock for the First Team, he's led the league in scoring (36.1) and led the Rockets through patches without Chris Paul and Clint Capela all the way to nearly the 3 seed in the West. Kevin Durant makes the cut here above a player like LeBron or Embiid because of two reasons, he's played more games than either of them and impacted his team's success more than either of them - posting higher shooting percentages across the board and earning more offensive, defensive and overall win shares. Giannis is also an easy lock for this spot, I'd put a lot of money on seeing him in the first team at least 7/10 times over the next 10 years - his career trajectory at this point just looks monstrous and scary for the rest of the league.

Chad’s Analysis:

Are you kidding me? The King isn’t on your First Team All-NBA? Blasphemy!

I feel like that should be my reaction. It’s been so long since we’ve seen a sub-par (by LeBron’s otherworldly standards) season from LeBron that it seems as if he should be written into the First Team honors before the season even begins. But I have to agree with you and I imagine the sportswriters (Wait, are we sportswriters?) or whoever it is that votes for All-NBA as well. LeBron was incredible this season as he always is. But not incredible enough when you consider the seasons his peers had around the league. You can’t be a legit MVP candidate and not be First Team. If LeBron had willed the Lakers into the playoffs he’s 100% have been on my First Team and potentially third in my MVP voting but alas, he’s spending May and June watching his son Bronny light up the AAU circuit. Not a bad trade-off for someone who seems like a true family man.

I see where you’re going with Jokic as well but I have to say I think you got this one wrong. Or not so much wrong as P.G. is a solid choice, but I think winning should count a bit more than individual numbers. Jokic has surged onto the scene as a young Tim Duncan-esque big man in a league full of relative elves. He’s absolutely dominant in such a smooth and easy way. His game is effortless because he plays the right way. Denver is an off-ball cutting, one-more pass making, whirl of beautiful basketball, all swirling around the Joker and that’s led them to the second seed in the West. In the West! He not only deserves First Team but MVP consideration.

Jake’s All-NBA Second Team:

Notable Exclusions:

Kawhi Leonard

Look, the Toronto Raptors training staff have been absolutely masterful in managing Kawhi's minutes and consequently his health/game shape for the playoff run - but I just can't give him enough credit to make the Second Team when he hasn't played a single back-to-back game this season. I get that his thigh injury might require that kind of management, but when there are absolute dogs like Embiid and Jokic working their asses off and even LeSlack is playing in back-to-backs, I just can't put him above them despite his great season.

Blake Griffin

Despite all the trash I talk about Blake Griffin, he's had a tremendous year and is an easy pick for an All-NBA spot, just not for the Second Team. He helped pull the Pistons into a playoff spot, despite their near collapse at the end when he was out with an injury, but he doesn't have the same overall impact on the court that Embiid, James and Jokic have - don't get me wrong, he's the absolute key piece of the Detroit team, it's just not enough to get them over the hump or get him a spot in the Second Team.

G - Russell Westbrook

G - Damian Lillard

F - LeBron James

F - Joel Embiid

F - Nikola Jokic

Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard were the easiest picks of this team - Russ has now averaged a triple double for three straight seasons and has morphed himself into more of a pass-first, hustling, bulldozing leader of the team rather than a player who could shoot you out of the game in one quarter. The humility and maturity it must've taken to cede the majority of shots to Paul George is really telling of Russell's growth as a player and he fully deserves this spot. Damian Lillard has been the same fiery catalyst of the Trailblazers that got him a 1st Team spot last year, the only difference here is Steph Curry's resurgence. Dame has killed it this year and dragged the ever overachieving Trailblazers into the West's 3rd seed, he's fully deserving of this spot.

Chad’s Analysis:

Wow! Just wow!

I love your boldness in leaving Kawhi off not only the first, but the second team as well. I still have a little bitterness left in my mouth from his soft-as-Charmin final year in San Antonio. But damn, the dude is arguably third in MVP voting and not even on Second Team All-NBA. When I look at your list of honorees it’s hard to say who should get the boot but surprisingly I think it’s King James. Once you knock LeBron off the First Team what is it really to just move him to Third Team? As the great Ricky Bobby said, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” So I think my only change here would be giving Bron the boot and adding Kawhi into the lineup. And you know how I feel about Griffin…good riddance.

Jake’s All-NBA Third Team:

Notable Exclusions:

Bradley Beal

Beal has been absolutely deadly this season, averaging over 25/5/5 with a sweet shooting split, but there's something about his lack of "Alpha Dog" that we never see and his inability to pull a relatively talented team to a playoff spot like Kemba Walker NEARLY did. So I guess this is less about Beal not deserving a spot and more about Kemba's similarly great play and closer push for a playoff spot. I mean, Kemba was so close to getting the Hornets into the playoffs... who's second best player might be Jeremy Lamb... Bradley Beal had Jabari Parker, Tomas Satoransky, Bobby Portis, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza and Jeff Green. Now I know that's not a great group, but they're mostly all still relatively effective players - Who knows, maybe it was because of the Wizards terrible management, Scott Brooks' timid coaching or John Wall's clubbing.

Donovan Mitchell

Seriously... picking 15 players to represent the very best of the NBA is frickin' difficult, I'm glad my vote doesn't actually count for anything because I'd be up all night trying to sort these teams out. Donovan had a brilliant sophomore season, if not a little trodden upon because of his huge rookie season breakout last year, but the kid averaged nearly 24 points to go with 4 rebounds and 4 assists, his stats are just a tad below Bradley Beal's but his impact this season was far beyond. The Jazz grabbed the 5th seed behind Mitchell's brilliance combined with a dash of Gobert's dominance inside and Joe Ingle's flashes from outside. Team success plays a huge part in All-NBA selections so it was super difficult to give Kemba the spot above Donovan Mitchell and D'Angelo Russell.

G - Kemba Walker

G - Kyrie Irving

F - Kawhi Leonard

F - Blake Griffin

F - Karl Anthony-Towns

Kyrie was a nod in here due to his own excellence combined with his teams relative (although slightly disappointing) success - he showed signs of turning his own locker room dysfunction around and I'm super excited to see how the Celtics handle playoff adversity. I had to give KAT the his due here - he's averaging over 24/12/3 with almost 2 blocks a game and a steal while posting a 26.3 PER. I had to put him in over a player like Rudy Gobert, he's averaging 9 more points than Gobert, an extra assist AND he shoots threes. He doesn't just shoot them either, he's canning 40% of them! To put that into perspective, he's got a higher percentage than J.J. Redick, Kyle Korver, Paul George, CJ McCollum, Khris Middleton and Joe Ingles. He's got the 22nd best percentage in the entire league, just below Kyrie Irving - and he's the only Center in the top 60. Which leads me to my next point... WHY IS HE NOT DOMINATING?! The Wolves finished 11th in the West and absolutely sucked, despite having a sexy team around him. The Timberwolves were really an anomaly to me this season and I'm not entirely sure where it went all wrong, but KAT gets the nod here for my final Third Team spot.

Chad’s Analysis:

I wanna jump right in and say, “Get KAT out of here. The guy can’t even lead a team to the eight-seed. Or lead a team at all for that matter.” But I can’t think of who I’d add in in his place. It’s hard to argue with the numbers you threw out in his defense and while I like to consider winning for these awards it is an individual honor and as an individual he’s exceptional.

I like that you chose Kemba for one of the guard spots. I think he deserves this honor for how resilient and hard working he’s been in Charlotte despite having depressingly poor rosters setup around him. I hope that if Charlotte doesn’t make a big splash in building a contending roster, he jumps ship to a franchise that won’t waste the few good years a small guard like Kemba may have left.

Did we (Jake) get anyone wrong here? Was our (Chad’s) analysis completely mislead? Yell at us through your keyboard in the comment section.