All-Star Voting for the Starters ended on Sunday, with the final ballot numbers to be released on Thursday in TNT at Madison Square Garden (Friday for those in the Motherland). Heat vs Knicks being the reason why Ernie and his crew will be in Broadway instead of their cushy Atlanta studios. A week after that, the All-Star Reserves are to be named.
Now, if the Northwest Division were to set up an All-Star team of their own, this would be their logical pool of candidates:
Denver Nuggets - Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene
Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Love, Michael Beasley
Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Serge Ibaka
Portland Trailblazers - LaMarcus Aldridge,Wesley Matthews, Andre Miller, Brandon Roy
Utah Jazz - Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson
Based from this, I believe this would be their roster composition.
Coach: Jerry Sloan - The taskmaster has a good knack coming from behind.
Starters:
Guard: Deron Williams - The new age John Stockon for the Jazz. The new rules are tailored for him to take over.
Guard: Russell Westbrook - He has The Sports Guy using references from The Wire comparing his situation with Kevin Durant. Also a Most Improved Player candidate.
Forward: Kevin Durant - NBA's leading scorer. All around good guy. The future has definitely arrived.
Forward: Carmelo Anthony - Currently the center of attention. His move to New York seems inevitable.
Center: LaMarcus Aldridge - With Brandon Roy out, he's emerged as the go-to-guy for Nate McMillan.
Reserves:
Forward: Paul Millsap - Quite simply the most egregious omission on the All-Star Ballot this year.
Forward: Kevin Love - Only Minnesota's miserable record is keeping him from being universally considered as an All-Star.
Guard: Chauncey Billups - With all the unsteadiness of the Carmelo situation, the veteran has somewhat stabled the ship
Center: Nene - Can make the argument for being the best performing center on the Western Conference All-Star Ballot.
Guard: Andre Miller - Without Brandon Roy, he gets to run the team his way, instead of having the usual clashes he has when both of them are on the court.
Guard: Wesley Matthews - He definitely is the main beneficiary of Brandon Roy's absence. He's definitely earning his pay.
Forward: Michael Beasley - Being transplanted from the hotbed of Miami to the frozen tundra of Minneapolis sure helped him, although there are still signs of immaturity still lurking (getting ejected in their loss against the Clippers). David Kahn snagged him cheap.
Inactive Roster:
Guard: Brandon Roy - Please do not rush your comeback. Please do not rush your comeback.
Center: Al Jefferson - Stepped up nicely with Memo being sidelined.
Forward: Jeff Green - He's the third wheel in Oklahoma City.
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