- Anthony Edwards
- Devin Booker
- Domantas Sabonis
- Jaylen Brown
- Stephen Curry
Let's start with the third-team locks.
Edwards is inarguable. The Minnesota Timberwolves can't fight for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and not have an All-NBA inclusion.
It helps that Edwards has leveled up every part of his offense, with the exception of maybe his off-the-bounce jumper. His advancements as a passer and driver have enabled the Wolves to navigate tight spaces all year and kept them afloat during Karl-Anthony Towns' absence due to a torn left meniscus. Edwards also has an All-Defensive gear, both on and off the ball, that he's reaching more frequently and that no one else on the third team can.
Booker remains one of the league's most dynamic scorers and complete-package offensive players. His passing is still underrated, and that isn't going to change given Phoenix's fourth-quarter issues for most of this season.
Still, Booker joins Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Luka Dončić and Joel Embiid as the only players averaging more than 27 points with an assist rate above 30. Brunson is the lone name from that gaggle with a lower turnover percentage. The Suns' performance during Booker's solo-star minutes etches his spot in stone even though he barely ranks in the top 50 of total minutes played.
After not appearing in the inaugural All-NBA brainstorm, Sabonis has emerged as a lock himself. It's fine if you think plenty of other players are better in a vacuum and more suited to postseason basketball, but this is a regular-season honor. Sabonis has entered points, rebounds and assists territory only ever explored by Wilt Chamberlain while logging the second-most minutes.
Guaranteed inclusions end there for me. The last two slots came down to Brown, Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Paul George, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Williams. De'Aaron Fox, Rudy Gobert, Chet Holmgren and Zion Williamson loomed on the periphery.
Brown came close to a lock in the end. He assumes more of a self-creation burden and continues to uncork more on-ball counters than many recognize, and his defense for 85 percent of the season qualifies as stifling. That's no small feat considering the assignments he routinely tackles.
The final spot came down to Curry, George, Haliburton and Wembanyama. Going with Wemby is a touch too ambitious—the first quarter or so of the season still happened.
Though Hali once profiled as a first-teamlock, his iffy post-injury sample is now larger than his initial round of transcendent play. Playing through hamstring issues and taking on more off-ball work following Pascal Siakam's arrival are reasonable caveats, but they make a difference at this level.
Curry versus George versus Haliburton still stung. The combination of Steph's offensive centrality and gravity and efficiency won me over. George doesn't have a case for rivaling Curry's workload. Haliburton has him beat (easily) as the passer (almost 11 assists per game to just over five), but Steph is averaging more points (26.3 to 20.3) and now edges him out in true shooting percentage. Curry's overall season has featured fewer warring extremes, too.
At this point, Haliburton generates more of his own looks. But the energy Curry expends to get the ball is second to none—and enough to nudge up Golden State's offensive performance by a (slightly) larger margin than Hali does for Indy.
