On a quiet Thursday afternoon, the league announced the All-NBA teams, which included a few shocking players but most were quite obvious.
Introducing the teams
The All-NBA first team includes Russell Westbrook and James Harden at the backcourt, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard occupying the forward slots, and Anthony Davis at center. For Westbrook, Leonard, and Davis, it is their second time being selected on the All-NBA first team, while it is the third time for Harden. As for LeBron, he has a record-tying 11 All-NBA first team selections.
The All-NBA second team consists of Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas at the guards, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo at the forwards, and Rudy Gobert at the five.
For the back-to-back MVP, Curry, this is second time being selected for the All-NBA second team. A couple of first-timers include Gobert, Antetokounmpo, and Thomas. Meanwhile, it is Durant’s second time landing on the second team.
The All-NBA third team has John Wall and DeMar DeRozan in the backcourt, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green at the forwards, and DeAndre Jordan at center. For Wall, Butler, and DeRozan, this is their first time landing on an All-NBA team. As for Green, he was All-NBA second team last year, and this is his first time on the third team. Lastly, for Jordan, this is his second time securing an All-NBA third team nod.
Notable players that were left out
Paul George and Gordon Hayward are two notable players that were left out from the All-NBA teams.
Why are these two so important? With the two stars being left off, the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz lose the opportunity to re-sign them to five-year, $207 million super-max deal. Hayward will now most certainly opt out of his contract, and he may consider other teams, although his intentions are to re-sign with Utah.
Meanwhile, George has been flirting with the idea of returning home to Los Angeles to play for the Lakers, and if he is going to miss out on signing a huge $200-million plus deal with Indiana, he may strongly consider leaving.
George and Hayward could still sign for more money with their respective teams, but the advantage is not as significant as it would have been had they been eligible for a designated-veteran-player extension. Fortunately, for Indiana, they have one more year to convince George into staying, while the Jazz essentially made their pitch to Hayward this season with their success.
A couple of other surprising players that did not make the All-NBA teams included DeMarcus Cousins and Kyrie Irving. It may have been a little difficult to squeeze Irving onto the teams with so much backcourt talent in the league today, but Cousins could have made it over Jordan or Gobert.
