All-NBA Third Team
G Trae Young (Hawks), G Devin Booker (Suns), F Jimmy Butler (Heat), F Pascal Siakam (Raptors), C Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
There are so many deserving players for All-NBA this season, but unfortunately, there are very limited spots. We should definitely add a Fourth Team to include the last high-level group of talents each season, but again, I do not make the rules!
It was tough to choose the final five players to finalize this ballot, but picking the two talents in the backcourt was fairly simple. Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant, and Zach LaVine are all deserving of All-NBA honors, but Trae Young and Devin Booker barely edged them out on my list.
Between ranking 11th in the league in scoring and helping lead one of the best teams in the NBA, Devin Booker being named to the All-NBA list is a given in my mind. The narrative with Devin Booker throughout his career was that he was on a bad team putting up empty stats, but the Suns hold the NBA’s best record at the All-Star break and he is putting up equal-to if not better numbers than he did when they were missing the playoffs!
Booker is just as important to the Phoenix Suns as Chris Paul is and quite honestly, it would not be shocking to see them side-by-side with one another on All-NBA Second Team or Third Team this season.
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As for Trae Young, he currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 27.8 points and tied for third in the league in assists with 9.3 assists per game. Not to mention, Young is tied for 13th with Joel Embiid with 28 double-doubles on the season and has recorded 14 games with at least 30 points and 10 assists, the most in the league by a wide margin.
The Hawks have struggled this season, but Trae Young has not been the reason for their lack of success, and quite honestly, he is the only reason they still have a chance to make the playoffs. One man cannot carry a team in this league anymore, but Trae Young is certainly doing his best to prove this statement wrong.
The two forward spots are tough to decide on here simply because the frontcourt talent in the NBA has been very underwhelming this season. There are a handful of centers to choose from, but Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have been injured this season and not too many other forwards have stepped up.
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Jimmy Butler has been one of the better two-way wings in the league this season and has helped the Heat be the top team in the Eastern Conference at the All-Star break. As for Pascal Siakam, he started the year late due to offseason shoulder surgery and has really turned things on as of late.
Since the start of February, Siakam has averaged 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.1 steals. Being a factor on both ends of the floor, as well as having the Raptors 0.5 games back from the 6-seeded Boston Celtics in the East, Pascal Siakam is very deserving of All-NBA honors once again.
The final center spot goes to Karl-Anthony Towns for me, but Rudy Gobert, Nikola Vucevic, Jarrett Allen, and Domantas Sabonis have all been having terrific seasons.
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Rudy Gobert likely has the edge over Karl-Anthony Towns right now, but for me, Towns has had such a huge impact on the Timberwolves this season and is one of the main reasons they are a playoff team this year.
While Gobert’s impact for the Jazz is huge defensively, he is not much of a factor offensively. Towns gets the job done on both ends of the floor and currently ranks 13th in the league in scoring this season at 24.4 points.
Minnesota is just 2.5 games back from avoiding the play-in tournament this season and should they be able to get out of the play-in tournament range, I see no reason why Karl-Anthony Towns should not be on the All-NBA list.
Plenty of players are deserving for All-NBA selection this season, but with only 15 spots up for grabs, it will be very interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
