James and Antetokounmpo will pick from a pool of 24 players for this year’s All-Star game. To get them started, we did a mock version of the draft.
LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will have their work cut out for them when they make their picks as captains in just the second N. B. A. All-Star draft — and the first to be televised. The task is their prize for receiving the most votes in their conferences — James in the West, and Antetokounmpo in the East — during All-Star balloting from fans, media and players.
To help them out, we stepped in as captains for a mock draft in our bid to build the perfect teams. We have asked Marc Stein, our venerable N. B. A. reporter and columnist, to weigh in on which of us came away with a winner.
The rules are the same as those that will be employed on Thursday:
Each team must first select a starting lineup from the eight other starters as selected by the fans, media and players.
The second round will feature the 14 reserves, and the third round will feature the game’s two veteran ambassadors, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
Team LeBron (Scott Cacciola) will pick first in the first and third rounds, and Team Giannis (Benjamin Hoffman) will pick first among the reserves.
Round One — Starters
Team LeBron
Cacciola: If I’m channeling my Inner LeBron, I’m rewarding Harden for his ridiculous first half of the season by making him the first pick, and I’m going to expect him to take no fewer than 20 stepback 3s from just inside half-court.
Team Giannis
Hoffman: There are arguments to be made for other players, but once you consider Giannis’s skill set, there is no one more complementary than Curry. With the space created by Curry’s outside shooting — he’s actually gotten more bold with long 3-pointers, if you can believe it — the lane will be wide open for the dunks that will get Giannis named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Team LeBron
Cacciola: Wait a second, Ben: I didn’t know we were treating this like an actual game with actual strategy. That changes everything. Or does it? Putting aside personal rivalries, with my second pick, I’m taking Kevin Durant because he, too, is really good at basketball. I also want to reunite him with Harden, his former teammate, and let them fight over the ball.
