2012 NBA All-Star Picks: WRD Edition

The NBA all-star lineups have been announced, and although the fans did a fairly decent job of selecting the deserving players, here's the truly deserving starting lineup, based on the performances so far this season, from both a quality and quantity (games played) standpoint. Not just taking offensive stats into account either, we take into account the defense the player has played as well, which may clear up a few of the picks. Here's my pick as to who I would have liked to see start the game, as well as 10 reserves for each team that deserve to make it.

Western Conference All-Star Picks

Lineup:
PG Russell Westbrook Oklahoma City
SG Kobe Bryant LA Lakers
SF Kevin Durrant - Oklahoma City
PF Kevin Love - Minnesota
C LaMarcus Aldridge - Portland

Reserves:
F Danillo Galinari - Denver
C Marc Gasol - Memphis
G Chris Paul - LA Clippers
G Kevin Martin - Houston
C Andrew Bynum - LA Lakers
F/C Pau Gasol - LA Lakers
F Blake Griffin- LA Clippers
G Tony Parker - San Antonio
G Monta Ellis - Golden State
G/F James Harden - Oklahoma City

Eastern Conference All-Star Picks

Lineup:
PG Derrick Rose - Chicago
SG Joe Johnson - Atlanta
SF LeBron James - Miami
PF Chris Bosh - Miami
C Dwight Howard - Orlando

Reserves:
C Greg Monroe - Detroit
G Brandon Jennings - Milwaukee
G/F Andre Iguodala - Philadelphia
F/C Carlos Boozer - Chicago
F/C Ryan Anderson - Orlando
G Deron Williams - New Jersey
F Danny Granger - Indiana
G Kyrie Irving - Cleveland
F Carmelo Anthony - New York
G John Wall - Washington

Judging by how things have gone through the first 6 weeks of the season, these guys are the ones who have been making the most impact, and deserve to be in the all-star game. The only quandary I was thinking about was LeMarcus Aldridge as the starting center for the Western Conference. He splits his time between center and power forward, but I think he's having the best year of any other center eligible player in the Western Conference. If not Aldridge, my second choice would be Bynum, just cause he's probably the most dominant center in the West. In the East, it was kind of tough keeping Melo out of the lineup, just because outside of Kobe and LeBron, he's been one of the top scorers in the NBA, even battling injury issues (take away his bogus 1-point performance vs. Charlotte last week and he'd be right behind Kobe in scoring avg.). The one guy in both starting lineups that may not even go to the game is Joe Johnson, but he's been easily the best all-around 2-guard in the Eastern Conference this year, thanks to Dwayne Wades off-and-on injury battles. Because of those injuries, I don't think Wade even deserves a spot on the Eastern roster, but of course, since he's Dwayne Wade and plays in Miami, he'll be there... As far as Warriors players are concerned, even with Monta's recent struggles, that 30 point breakout game got him right back on track and he's been one of the best scoring/distributing combo guards in the NBA, so hopefully he gets a spot.