Fifteen spots for All-NBA. Ten each for All-Defense and All-Rookie. Lowe names his teams -- and the players who just missed the cut.
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• The first four spots on the second team -- Brunson, Leonard, Durant, Davis -- were pretty easy. I suspect a lot of voters will have Edwards on the second team, shoving LeBron to third team. That's fine. Minnesota finished nine games above the Lakers with only one player -- Edwards -- in the thick of the All-NBA conversation, thoughmerits at least a look for third team. Minnesota's offense fell off a cliff when Edwards rested. He's more explosive and better than LeBron defensively.
The Suns getting two guys is fine. They won 49 games. Beal missed a third of the season. Their depth did not pan out as planned. Booker and Durant had to do a ton every night for this team to win. Booker missed 14 games, but he played so much when available -- about 36 minutes per game -- that he's in the right minutes ballpark to snag a spot.
The Kings got mauled all season in the minutes Sabonis played without Fox. Opponents outscored the Kings by almost six points per 100 possessions in those minutes -- a really big number for a player of Sabonis's stature, even when you factor in the Kings' lack of top-level shot creation beyond Fox. The Celtics were better with Brown off the floor, but they still won the minutes he played without Tatum by 8.4 points per 100 possessions.
• I went back and forth between Brown, Sabonis and George for the last spot. Advanced metrics continue to say Brown is the wrong choice. They likely frown on Brown's precarious playmaking. Even in his most stable passing season, Brown averaged 3.6 assists and 2.4 turnovers -- a ho-hum ratio for an All-Star wing. George is the superior playmaker, even if the assist numbers don't reflect that this season; he was the third ballhandling option in a slower, more hierarchical offense.
If you asked 50 coaches and general managers to rank every player, Brown would almost certainly not be in the top 15. The top 20 might be a stretch. But several players who would likely land above him --depending on one's tastes -- did not play enough games to be eligible or toiled on awful teams. Another --
White reads opposing offenses from one or two steps ahead and can adjust tactics on the fly without any blips of uncertainty. He is the best defender on the league's No. 2 defense. This is just a brutal category. There are only 10 spots. I had Gordon a tick above the other Denver Nuggets candidate --. Caldwell-Pope is awesome -- impossible to screen, tireless hounding point guards and wings all over the perimeter. He can guard up in size, though it starts to get a little dicey against the strongest wing bullies -- the Leonard types.
Lively and Jackson-Davis lag even further back. Both have been awesome in their roles. Lively provided steady two-way production as a starter and is a major plus backing up. Lively has a nice feel passing on the move and the perfect kind of nasty streak. Too many rolling bigs pass out of layups and hooks when they encounter smaller help defenders -- kicking to shooters instead. Lively relishes overpowering those little guys.
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