The NBA had more excitement planned for Thursday night, as the 2022 NBA All-Star draft was held prior to the evening's slate of games.
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After an extremely eventful deadline day, the NBA had more excitement planned for Thursday night, as the All-Star draft was held prior to the evening’s slate of games and televised on TNT. The two All-Star teams were picked by the captains, who were selected by fan vote. One player from each conference was selected to be a captain. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant was selected out of the East, and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James represented the West. Both players were also selected as captains last season.
The two players went back-and-forth selecting players from the All-Star pool until both rosters were full. While Durant captained and drafted one of the rosters, the Nets star won’t actually be playing in the All-Star game due to a lingering MCL sprain. He also missed the All-Star game last season due to a hamstring injury. As a result, Durant got an extra pick in the first round, since he had to draft a player to replace himself.
Read more: Kevin Durant on James Harden for Ben Simmons swap: ‘I think everybody got what they wanted’
As the overall leading vote-getter, James was granted the first overall pick. Here’s a look at how the draft shook out:
Starters:
LeBron James
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Stephen Curry
DeMar DeRozan
Nikola Jokic
Reserves:
Luka Doncic
Darius Garland
Chris Paul
Jimmy Butler
Donovan Mitchell
Fred VanVleet
James Harden
Starters:
Joel Embiid
Ja Morant
Jayson Tatum
Trae Young
Andrew Wiggins
Reserves:
Devin Booker
Karl Anthony Towns
Zach LaVine
DeJounte Murray
Khris Middleton
LaMelo Ball
Rudy Gobert
1. LeBron’s starting lineup is nearly the same as last year
LeBron didn’t get too creative with his first couple of picks. Last year he picked Antetokounmpo with the first overall pick and Steph Curry with his second pick, and he did the same thing this season. He also picked landed Nikola Jokic with his last pick in the first round for the second straight year. So, overall James’ starting lineup will be 80 percent the same as it was last year. The only difference is that DeMar DeRozan will replace Luka Doncic, though James still has Doncic on his bench this year. Chris Paul is also back on Team LeBron.
Team LeBron bested Team Durant 170-150 in last year’s game, so you can’t really blame James for selecting a similar squad to the one he had then. James is 4-0 in All-Star games as a captain, so he has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to All-Star roster building.
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2. Durant really didn’t want to draft Harden
The most amusing part of the entire draft was how obvious it was that Durant didn’t want to draft his now-twice former teammate James Harden. While being egged on by the TNT analysts, along with James, Durant passed on every opportunity to select Harden. With two players left on the board, Durant selected Gobert, claiming that he needed “size.” As a result, Harden automatically went to James’ squad as the draft’s final selection.
At the end of the day, the NBA is all about entertainment, and this year’s All-Star draft definitely provided that. The game itself will take place on Sunday, Feb. 20 in Cleveland.
