2022 NBA All Star Game: Our Picks for Reserves for Eastern, Western Conference Rosters

Prior to even announcing its rosters for the 2022 All-Star Game, the NBA already made some big changes to an All-Star Weekend staple, the Rising Stars Game.

Recently, the format of the Rising Stars game had featured American-born first- or second-year players against international players. However, in an effort to shake up that format and involve more players, Rising Stars will now include:

• Four teams of seven players each in a three-game tournament
• Rosters will be divided from among 24 first- and second-year players chosen by NBA assistant coaches, and four G League Unite team players selected by G League coaches
• The coaching staff will be made up of members of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, with head coaches of each team picking their own players in a draft
• The two first-round games will be played to a score of 50, and the championship game will be played to 25
• Before each game, a shooting competition called the Clorox Clutch Challenge will feature eight Rising Stars players divided into teams of two to try and make historic shots from the NBA playoffs, with the team that makes all five shots the quickest winning.

This year’s All-Star Weekend will be in Cleveland February 18-20. The schedule includes:

• Celebrity Game, 7 p.m., Feb. 18
• Rising Stars Challenge, 9 p.m., Feb. 18
• All-Star Saturday Night, including the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout, and Dunk Contest, 8 p.m., Feb. 19
• All-Star Game, 8 p.m., Feb. 20

The league announced the All-Star starters on January 27. For the West, starters are Ja Morant, Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic. In the East, starters are Trae Young, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid. Wiggins’ selection by fans has already caused some head-scratching as he’s having a good season, but certainly not better than several other players who deserve to start.

Starters are determined by votes from fans, players, and media. Reserves are selected by coaches. 

Reserves will be announced on February 3.

Here are our picks for who should make the teams from each conference, regardless of the voting that picked starters.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Backcourt: Ja Morant (Memphis), Devin Booker (Phoenix), Chris Paul (Phoenix), Dejounte Murray (San Antonio), Steph Curry (Golden State), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota), Donovan Mitchell (Utah)

Ja Morant is a no-brainer pick for a spot on the team. The third-year Memphis guard has emerged as an MVP candidate and has the Grizzlies among the West’s top contenders so far this season.

Booker and Paul are also close to no-brainer picks. They have the Suns with the best record in the NBA, Booker is a great scorer and defender, and Paul is still one of the most efficient offensive and defensive players in the league.

Curry is having a down season by his standards thanks to a shooting slump over the last three weeks, but he was near an MVP-pace before that.

Mitchell recovered from an early shooting slump and is now having his typical productive and efficient season.

With stars like Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic having their first halves disrupted by injuries, it gives the chance to get some young and emerging talents like Murray and Edwards a shot. Murray is one of the most improved players in the league and Edwards’ dunking ability alone make him a must to have on an All-Star roster.

Frontcourt: LeBron James (Lakers), Nikola Jokic (Denver), Rudy Gobert (Utah), Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota), Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans)

The West is heavy on centers this season, with Jokic having another MVP season, Towns bouncing back from an injury-plagued 2020-21 season, and Gobert continuing his consistent play as a great defender and effective finisher on offense.

Valanciunas is one of the best stories of the season, averaging a double-double and hitting more than 40 percent of his threes in his first season in New Orleans.

James, at age 37, is somehow still putting up consistent, MVP-level numbers.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Backcourt: Zach LaVine (Chicago), Trae Young (Atlanta), Jaylen Brown (Boston), Fred VanVleet (Toronto), LaMelo Ball (Charlotte), Darius Garland (Cleveland)

The Eastern Conference has by far the deepest level of talent that merits All-Star consideration, as injuries have taken out several West stars and made decisions there easier.

LaVine and DeRozan (below) are both MVP candidates and have the Bulls playing like a legitimate title contender. Garland is the leading scorer on Cleveland, the only team more surprising than the Bulls. Plus, with the game in Cleveland, the team needs a hometown All-Star.

VanVleet has seamlessly stepped into the primary scoring and distributing roles for the Raptors with Kyle Lowry gone and Ball and Young are two of the most exciting young players in the league.

Frontcourt: Kevin Durant (Brooklyn), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee), DeMar DeRozan (Chicago), Jayson Tatum (Boston), Jimmy Butler (Miami)

Tatum and Brown (above) are one of the highest scoring duos in the league and have almost singlehandedly kept Boston in the playoff race. Durant, Embiid, and Antetokounmpo are all MVP candidates.

The hardest call in this predictions is the final spot. Miami has the best record in the East, it’s hard not to give them at least one All-Star. Butler has been great, although he has dealt with injuries.

Players like Miles Bridges, Pascal Siakam, James Harden, and Bradley Beal would all be in the conversation for the final spot, but Butler’s production combined with team success give him the edge.