Snubs, surprises for All-Star reserves

The All-Star reserves have been unveiled and, aside from injury replacements, rosters are set for the big game in New York. Which picks were the most surprising? Which deserving players were the biggest snubs? Our expert panel makes its picks.

1. Who's the biggest All-Star snub in the East?

J.A. Adande: Brandon Knight. I can live without a fourth Hawk (sorry, Kyle Korver), but shouldn't there be a Milwaukee Buck on the roster? Knight has piloted a young team to a winning record, and he's done it without Jabari Parker for the past month and a half.

Bradford Doolittle: It's tempting to say Korver, but I understand it's tough to put four guys from the same team in the game on a 12-man roster, and the three Hawks that made it -- Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague -- are deserving. The top four guys by WARP that didn't get in are Kevin Love, Kemba Walker, Brandon Knight and Nikola Vucevic. Based on real plus-minus, I'd go with Korver, who's close to those guys in WARP. If not him, then Love.

Amin Elhassan: Korver. I'm not advocating for four Hawks in the game, but I really thought the coaches would recognize what kind of special season Korver is having, and not just from a statistical standpoint (although the 50/50/90 shooting averages don't hurt!). So much of the Hawks' offense revolves around the attention defenses have to pay to Korver as he sprints around screens, and defensively, he's much improved.

Israel Gutierrez: Korver. The runaway team in the East deserves to have its key components rewarded, and Korver is arguably the most important player to the Hawks' offensive system. And there's this: He's comfortably having an insane 50/50/90 season. The next candidates to have such a season are probably the Splash Brothers, and they're both All-Stars.

Kevin Pelton: Korver. I can't say I'm surprised, given that only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1988-89 (his final season) has been selected to an All-Star team by coaches with averages of less than 15 PPG, 5 RPG and 5 APG. But Korver was a deserving candidate. I'm hoping he'll be selected as an injury replacement should Dwyane Wade's hamstring injury keep him from playing.

2. Who's the biggest All-Star snub in the West?

Adande: DeMarcus Cousins. As painful as the exclusion of Damian Lillard and Mike Conley might be, at least it's easy to make a case for the guards picked ahead of them. But in selecting Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant ahead of Cousins, the coaches showed too much inconsistency. Boogie's averages of 23.8 points and 12.3 rebounds easily outdo Duncan's 14.7 and 10.1. And if you include Duncan because he's played in -- and won -- more games, how do you justify Durant, who's missed 25 games and whose squad is outside of the playoff window just like Cousins'?

Doolittle: Lillard, whom I strongly suspect will be Kobe Bryant's injury replacement. Lillard is closer to the MVP race than he is to the non-All-Star group, even in the West. If Lillard is the replacement, then the top West six guards by WARP will be in the All-Star Game.

Elhassan: Lillard. I'm honestly shocked. He's improved tremendously finishing at the rim and he's gotten better defensively, two of the bigger knocks on him in years past. He's also been lights-out in crunch-time situations and has won Portland a bunch of games with late-game heroics.

Gutierrez: Cousins, by a hair over Lillard. The Lillard argument comes down to him and Russell Westbrook, and while Westbrook has played 14 fewer games than Lillard, Westbrook's numbers (25.2 PPG, 7.5 APG, 5.9 RPG) are better that Lillard's (21.8 PPG, 6,2 APG, 4.6 RPG). Cousins is more a victim of his front office's questionable choices, and that's got to hurt.

Pelton: Lillard. With apologies to the deserving DeMarcus Cousins, Lillard has been one of the 10 best players in the NBA this season. Even with the glut of Western Conference guards, it's remarkable that he wasn't named to the roster. Fortunately, he figures to replace Bryant on the roster.

UPDATE: Adam Silver has announced Cousins will replace Kobe

3. Which East All-Star reserve is the biggest surprise?

Adande: Dwyane Wade. Feels like a legacy pick. Wade had a strong December, when he averaged 24.7 points and shot 50 percent, but he had already started to tail off to 17 points and 42 percent shooting in January before his latest hamstring issue. Since he pulled a Smokey Robinson and told Heat writers to take a good look at his face, he'll probably be replaced in New York.

Doolittle: Wade. He has missed too many games, ranks behind eight other East guards in WARP and is barely in the black in RPM. Bad choice. Maybe even a terrible one.

Elhassan: Jeff Teague. For all the reasons I listed for Korver, plus knowing they wouldn't vote four Hawks to go to the game.

Gutierrez: If you have to pick one, it's Kyrie Irving, largely because of Cleveland's poor performances this season without LeBron James. But those struggles have also been a product of the Cavs' shaky roster before recent trades. It's also easy to have beef with either Wade or Chris Bosh because of Miami's 20-25 record, seventh-best in the East.

Pelton: I guess Irving is the most relatively surprising, since coaches voted before he dropped 55 points on the Portland Trail Blazers, but these are probably the seven players I would've guessed.

4. Which West All-Star reserve is the biggest surprise?

Adande: Durant. We brought him up earlier, but his inclusion gets more astounding the more you think about it. He's played at an All-Star level (25 points, 39 percent on 3-pointers), he just hasn't played often enough to keep the Thunder among the top eight in the West. The Thunder could turn into the most disappointing story of the season, and even though it's not Durant's fault, he's the main reason behind it. Not exactly a strong case for an All-Star spot.

Doolittle: If you're awarding guys based on this season to date, then Kevin Durant shouldn't make it. On a per-game, per-possession, per-anything basis, he's a top-five player. But he's played only 21 games. Reward the guys who have played. There are 13 guys in the West with a better WARP.

Elhassan: If I'm being perfectly honest? Nobody. This is the Western Conference, where you can make an All-Star team out of the guys who got snubbed. But if you twist my arm, I guess including two guys from Oklahoma City despite both of them missing extended time and the Thunder being barely .500 is mildly eyebrow-raising.

Gutierrez: Duncan. Again, no real surprises here, especially in a conference that could've fielded two legitimate All-Star teams. But given how much burden Duncan has carried throughout an injury-plagued Spurs season, he absolutely deserves the nod. Though it's doubtful too many would've argue had Cousins been picked instead of Duncan.

Pelton: Durant. I think Durant belongs in the game, since there's no debate he's one of the 12 best players in the NBA. But a series of injuries that kept him out of 25 games made him the most difficult choice among the West All-Stars.

5. East or West: Which roster is better?

Adande: West. You could just as easily make a legit All-star roster out of the Western snubs: Lillard, Cousins, Mike Conley, Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Eric Bledsoe. I've been so focused on who was left off, I need to pause and consider what it says about the guys who made it. In defense of the fans and coaches, that's a loaded squad they've put together.

Doolittle: Since Kobe's not playing, it's the West by a lot. The average WARP of the East roster is 6.4. The West with Kobe is 7.6. But if Lillard replaces him, it's 8.1. West in a romp.