2018 NBA All-Star Game: 5 Biggest Snubs

Less than a week after the 2018 All-Star Game starters were announced, it was time for the reserves. And while most of them were as predicted, there were more than a few snubs from either conference. Unlike the starters, which are selected from a mix of fans, media, and player votes, the reserves are purely based on the votes by the league's 30 head coaches.

There is no rule written in stone regarding the coaches criteria for their voting, however, for our list of snubs, there are few benchmarks the players have to beat:

• The player's team has got to have a winning record or at least something in the vicinity of .500
• If their record isn't anywhere close to that, their individual numbers, irrespective of their team's record, has to be comparable to the league's best.

Keeping those parameters in mind, here are the five biggest snubs for the All-Star Game:

Note: There is going to be no mention of who these players should replace on the official list of All-Star for the Game. This a list of deserving players that missed out.

#5 Nikola Jokic

Nikola Jokic

Season Averages (40 games): 16.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.3 steals

Despite losing Paul Millsap to a wrist injury in the last week of November, the Denver Nuggets have been able to keep their head above water. Largely in part due to their team play but it's quite clear that they have been led by third-year center Nikola Jokic.

Jokic's name has gone under the radar and often hasn't even been mentioned in the players that are going to miss out. It's no surprise that he missed out given the stacked Western Conference but it's not just his double-double numbers that are worth noticing, it's also his box plus minus - 5.7 (9th best in the league).

The Nuggets are just above .500 with a record of 24-23, good for the eight seed in the Conference and Jokic's numbers too aren't something you can ignore.

#4 Lou Williams

Lou Williams

Season Averages (45 games): 23.3 points, 5.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds

Who Lou Williams can replace in the current All-Star team is a mystery but that's not what we are here for. Despite all the nagging injuries and inconsistent play at the beginning of the season, the LA Clippers have done incredibly well to be at .500 right now with a record of 23-23. And a large part of that has got to do with Lou Williams' play.

The team was 11-18 and as you can decipher since then they have gone 12-5, which is praise-worthy given that they were missing key players like Blake Griffin and Austin Rivers for a major part of these 17 games. They've gone from almost at the bottom of the Conference to posing a strong case for the eighth seed.

Through the team's 12-5 run, Williams has averaged 28.9 points, among the league's top 3. If he doesn't continue to start games for the team, he has a pretty good case to receive his second Sixth Man of the Year award.

#3 Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond

Season Averages (43 games): 14.3 points, 15.0 rebounds (career-high), 3.9 assists (career-high) and 62.9 FT% (career-high)

Andre Drummond isn't exactly an offense-first center and the All-Star Game isn't really meant for defense-first players but he might actually have a legitimate case. However, reacting the way Drummond did on social media was a bit too much, given his team's record. He took to Twitter after the reserves annonucement to show his displeasure:

Guess I gotta start doing back flips after every point I score to get attention around here! Lmao on to the next

— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) January 24, 2018

The wheels have come off the Pistons' hot start. From starting 10-3, good for third seed then, Detroit has slipped to 22-23 but that is no black mark on Drummond's season. He leads the league in Defensive box plus-minus at 5.5 and ranks 11th in the league when it comes to win shares with 5.9.

#2 Chris Paul

Chris Paul

Season Averages (28 games): 19.1 points, 8.9 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 23-5 team record

If the Golden State Warriors with a record of 38-10 deserve and get four All-Stars, shouldn't the Houston Rockets with a record of 33-12 have at least two? In the complete list of All-Star rosters announced, James Harden is the only one from H-Town to make it.

Chris Paul's numbers, both season averages and advanced stats, make a case for him to be on the team. CP3 might still be in Los Angeles anyway but the team's record when he plays is also quite a big factor which should have been considered. Either way, the head coaches didn't believe he deserved a spot on the reserves but when maybe if they look at the advanced stats, they would change their mind.

He ranks third (.274) in Win Share per 48 minutes, fifth (8.0) in Box Plus-Minus and despite coming off the bench, he ranks fourth (126.3) in the league in offensive rating.

#1 Paul George

Paul George

Season Averages (43 games): 20.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals (tied league-best)

The best two-way player on the third-best defensive team in the league (the Oklahoma City Thunder), that has a record of fifth best record in the West with 27-20. Paul George is easily the biggest snub from this year's All-Star team and he's probably the only player on this list that has a legitimate argument to replace more than one player from the players that were announced.

Did Lillard's speaking about his snubs factor in when the coaches were voting for the reserves? Did the impressive and dominant Warriors needing four players take its toll on George's chances?

He could easily walk into the team and replace either of Damian Lillard or Draymond Green. George might not put up the big numbers that Russell Westbrook does but he certainly plays a huge role in the team having the current record that they do.

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