Rockets: 3 replacements for Anthony Davis in the All-Star game

The 2021 NBA All-Star game will be held on March 7th, however unlike previous years, it will be part of a one-night event which will feature other events such as the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Contest and the Slam Dunk Contest. What’s also unusual about the game from the Houston Rockets‘ standpoint is that they won’t have an All-Star for the first time since 2012.

With the NBA All Star starters announced already, the long-awaited reserves selections were highly anticipated by many fans around the world. The format for the game will include both team captains, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, to select their teammates from the pool of players available.

On February 23rd, the reserves were finally revealed and fans of different teams around the league didn’t waste any time voicing their frustrations on why their favorite players were snubbed from an All-Star selection. To summarize who will be an All-Star this year, below is a list of both starters and reserves for the event.

The Western Conference starters include Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard.

The reserves from the West that were announced are the following:

• Anthony Davis
• Paul George
• Rudy Gobert
• Damian Lillard
• Donovan Mitchell
• Chris Paul
• Zion Williamson

On the other hand, the Eastern Conference starters include Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.

The reserves from the East that were announced are the following:

• Jaylen Brown
• James Harden
• Zach Lavine
• Julius Randle
• Ben Simmons
• Jayson Tatum
• Nikola Vucevic

Houston Rockets’ Christian Wood tops list of replacements for Anthony Davis in the All-Star game

With respect to the Western Conference, Anthony Davis was named a reserve, however his status to play is doubtful. Last week, Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Frank Vogel, announced that he expects the star forward/center to miss approximately four weeks due to a calf strain and re-aggravated Achilles tendinosis.

With the team’s biggest priority being to have a healthy roster heading into the playoffs, we can expect someone who was snubbed from an All-Star selection this year to replace Davis. Here are three players from the Western Conference who can fill that void in the 2021 NBA All Star Game.

Next: No. 3

3. Devin Booker

Many fans were upset that Devin Booker was left out from the All-Star game and rightfully so. Booker is having himself a productive year, once again, while also playing a large role in his team’s success this season. The Phoenix Suns heading into Tuesday’s matchups were tied in the loss column with the Lakers and Clippers for the second seed in the West.

The Suns are also one of two teams currently with a 9-1 record in the past 10 games, with the other being the Utah Jazz. Booker is averaging 24.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 50.1 percent from the field, a career-high for him.

In addition to this, he’s shooting an impressive 38.1 percent from downtown, one of his better season averages for this metric. He also has a +6.2 plus/Minus per 100 possessions, which is the highest it has been in his career.

Selections for All-Star appearances are based on both team and player success. Booker can check the box for both of these qualifications, which makes this snub extremely bizarre and upsetting for fans around the league. His teammate, former Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul, on the other hand was named a reserve, which is quite telling.

One of the drawbacks of the All-Star game is that sometimes multiple players from the same team can be selected and this can result in certain guys being left out, such as Booker. Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are all players who are part of a tandem in the West.

Having both Paul and Booker would have made 8 of 12 players being from four teams. While those players’ teams are having great success this season, it doesn’t leave much room for deserving guys to make the roster.

With Davis expecting to miss the event, Booker can fulfill that last spot and make his second appearance in an All-Star game. He is widely regarded as the biggest snub for the event, at least LeBron certainly agrees.

Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that.

— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 24, 2021

This was sent shortly after the reserves were announced, and LeBron seems to think Booker is often being overlooked around the league. The 6′ 5″ 24 year-old-guard is a legitimate and serious candidate who can be playing in Atlanta on March 7th.

We will just have to wait and see if he gets the nod to replace Davis when he officially is listed as out from the event.

Next: No. 2

2. Brandon Ingram

With Booker as a candidate to replace Anthony Davis, another option is Brandon Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans. Ingram is having himself a solid career thus far as the 23-year-old forward is having another excellent season this year.

He was named a reserve in 2020 after increasing his scoring by 5.5 points per game in his first season in NOLA. Following up from his impressive year last season, Ingram continues to improve and has seen increases in many major metrics such as scoring, assists, 3-point shooting, field-goal percentage, and blocks.

His averages are 23.9 points per game, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 46.9-percent from the field and 39.4-percent from downtown. HIs teammate, Zion Williamson, was selected as a reserve in his sophomore year in the league.

The Pelicans have been trying to keep up in the race for the play-in tournament that will include the 7th-10th seeds for the final two playoff spots. They are currently 13-17 and are 11th in the standings.

With playoff expectations for the team, Ingram has been performing exceptionally well and in a nationally televised game against the Celtics on Sunday afternoon, he delivered. The team trailed by 20+ points in the second half, however they managed to complete the comeback in a critical matchup to remain competitive in the quest for a playoff appearance.

Ingram led all scores with 33 points while shooting 50-percent from the field and delivered a dagger 3-point shot in overtime to give the Pelicans a lead.

With Brandon Ingram’s upward trend in improvement, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he is rewarded an All-Star spot this year for Anthony Davis. He is a 6’8″ forward who fills the void in size that will be missing from Davis.

Both can score from anywhere on the court and are versatile offensively. We might just even forget about Davis’ absence if Ingram is on the court delivering buckets from anywhere on the floor.

Next: No. 1

1. Houston Rockets center Christian Wood

One can argue that Christian Wood‘s  absence from the Houston Rockets these past eight games shows how valuable and critical he is to their success. The team will hold the longest losing streak in the NBA after the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to snap their 10-game losing streak Tuesday night against the Atlanta Hawks in a one-point victory.

With Christian Wood missing time due to a nasty ankle  injury in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Houston Rockets are sorely missing their 6’10” center, as they once upon a time were 11-10 and were in the playoff picture. The team was at their best defensively and were finding a rhythm winning seven of eight games dating back to late January up until February 4th.

The Houston Rockets’ struggles without Wood is a compelling case for why he should replace Anthony Davis as an All-Star this year. In an Instagram post made last week, Wood stated that he intends to return to action prior to the All-Star break.

Christian Wood: “I’ll be back before all star break” pic.twitter.com/vma7QIfjE3

— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) February 19, 2021

This ultimately will allow the Houston Rockets to potentially turn things around prior to the break and get healthier before resuming their season after the event. When asked about his team’s struggle, Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas acknowledged Wood’s absence and the impact it had on the team.

“We don’t have Christian Wood, and he’s playing at an All-Star level. Throughout this whole streak we’ve been missing at least two guys that we depend on.”

If we dive into the numbers, it makes a stronger case for Wood to be an All-Star. Here is a tweet that summarizes his contributions, which is a lot more powerful than just typing his regular statline.

The All-Star case for Rockets big man Christian Wood, as stated by agent @PensackSports: pic.twitter.com/5Ls7eMp1vm

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 24, 2021

Wood being in the Top-20 for seven categories is asinine and he definitely deserves to be a serious candidate to replace Anthony Davis. By missing time, one has to wonder if this hurts his case considering Ingram and Booker have played a much larger portion of their team’s games.

Ingram hasn’t missed time, while Booker has played 87 percent of the season thus far. Wood, on the other hand, has only played in 58 percent of the Houston Rockets’ games and this could hurt his chances drastically for grabbing the final roster spot.

Regardless of the missed time, there was no doubt Wood was on track of earning an All-Star spot with the way he was playing prior to the injury. It was a personal goal of his that he had his sights set on, but he could end up falling short this season.

Wood is still very young, as he is only 25-years-old. There is plenty of time for the Houston Rockets big man to earn accolades in his career, however let’s hope his first one can be a trip to Atlanta in March!