B/R Staff's 2025 NBA All-Star Starters

We're already more than halfway through the 2024-25 campaign, and that means some of the NBA's marquee events are closing in.

The trade deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Playoff races are heating up. And this week, the All-Star starters for both conferences will be revealed on TNT.

We already have a hint on who might be named, thanks to some of the early returns in the fan vote, but that only accounts for half the say. The media and players get a quarter each, so there's still a little mystery.

Just not enough to prevent us from predicting the first five in each conference.

On a team that could get three to four All-Stars, Donovan Mitchell is still the alpha of a group that's begun the season an NBA-best 35-6 overall.

This would be the sixth straight All-Star game for the 28-year-old, whose raw numbers have taken a step back with the emergence of Evan Mobley and others. Still, Mitchell's 23.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game pass the eye test for being named an All-Star, especially since he's leading the No. 1 offense in the NBA in scoring, and shooting a career-high 40.1 percent from three.

Improved outside shooting efficiency and a career-low turnover rate of 9.2 percent help to highlight how Mitchell has helped carry the Cavs even without posting his usual gaudy scoring numbers on a nightly basis. His unselfishness has allowed Mobley to flourish and become a likely All-Star as well.

Talent meets team success here for Mitchell, who's established himself as a top shooting guard in the NBA and a deserving starter once again in the East.

This spot is very much up for grabs, as players like LaMelo Ball, Cade Cunningham, Trae Young and others can all make their case for a starting job.

With season résumés stacked side by side, however, Brunson has the best combination of individual and team success while posting the highest efficiency numbers for a New York Knicks team with the second-best offense in the NBA.

Brunson is averaging 26.0 points and a career-high 7.4 assists while shooting 38.9 percent from three, by far the best of the other candidates here.

A 27-16 record has the Knicks at No. 3 in the East with Brunson (along with the rest of New York's starters) playing major roles. Brunson's 35.2 minutes per game are coming with a lot of wear and tear, as the 28-year-old is getting to the free-throw line a career-high 7.0 times a game.

Ball is scoring more. Young has racked up more assists. Cunningham gets major points for having the Detroit Pistons at .500 halfway into the season. With all factors considered, however, Brunson is most deserving of the second starting guard spot in the East.

Even with the Boston Celtics' elite level of play falling off from a year ago, Jayson Tatum is still having another monster year and is unquestionably deserving of a fifth straight start and six appearance overall.

Despite teammate Jaylen Brown taking home 2024 Finals MVP honors over Tatum, the latter has enjoyed the better regular season to this point. He leads the Celtics in scoring (27.7 points, sixth-highest in the NBA), rebounds (9.3) and assists (5.4) while racking up 1.3 steals and making 3.7 threes per game at a 35.8 percent clip. His rebound and assist numbers are both career bests.

Still the most important player on a Celtics team loaded with talent, Boston is the only team to rank in the top-five in offense and defense this season. Their 29-13 record is the third-best in the NBA with Tatum's estimated plus-minus score of plus-5.1 ranking sixth overall (98th percentile, via DunksandThrees.com).

Now entering the prime of his career at age 26, Tatum is clearly deserving of a spot here.

Having just entered his 30s (in Year 12 in the league!), Giannis Antetokounmpo is as good as ever as he projects to make his ninth straight All-Star Game.

Antetokounmpo is tied with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander atop the NBA scoring leaderboard with 31.5 points per game, continuing to dominate from inside the three-point line. Making 60.5 percent of his shots this season, Antetokounmpo's 140 dunks represent 21.3 percent of his total made shots, the second-highest number of his career.

His continued dominance on the glass (12.0 rebounds per game, sixth-highest in the NBA) and growth as a passer (6.0 assists, 34.0 assist percentage) have led to another monster season from the two-time MVP to go along with his 1.4 blocks and ever-impressive defense.

Following a disastrous 2-8 start to the season, Antetokounmpo has led Milwaukee to a 22-9 record since Nov. 12, the fourth-best record in the league over that stretch.

A trade to the New York Knicks and a move back to center full-time has done wonders for Karl-Anthony Towns' production, as he's enjoying the best season of his career in Year 10.

A raw stat line of 25.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game is All-Star-starter worthy, especially since KAT ranks second in the NBA in rebounding and 14th in scoring. No player in NBA history has ever averaged at least 25 points, 13.5 rebounds and shot 40 percent from three in a season, with Towns' 44.9 percent mark from deep ranking sixth overall this year.

Swapping Julius Randle and Donte DiVicenzo for Towns has resulted in an offensive jump from No. 7 a year ago (117.3 rating) to No. 2 now (119.2) for the Knicks, as his elite floor-spacing has transformed the way this scoring attack can now operate.

With a sparkling plus-9.7 swing rating (91st percentile, via Cleaning the Glass), Towns deserves to be an All-Star starter in his first year in the East.

LeBron James is likely to make the starting five because he's LeBron James. He now has a two-decade-plus legacy. He's second in frontcourt votes in the West. And he surely remains one of the most respected players in the league among media and peers.

But this isn't just a legacy nod.

Remarkably, in his age-40 campaign, LeBron is averaging 23.7 points, 9.0 assists, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 threes, while shooting 39.8 percent from deep.

He's still one of the league's best and most reliable point forwards. And his 21st (!) All-Star selection is all but guaranteed.

This one may come as a bit of a surprise. The Golden State Warriors are below .500, and Curry's 22.9 points give him his lowest scoring average since 2012-13.

But for the first time in years, the last couple of spots in the West's starting lineup feel open.

Luka Dončić has missed half of his team's games. Jalen Williams starting feels unlikely with all the rightful credit SGA is getting for OKC's success. And Domantas Sabonis, Anthony Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr. all have the misfortune of being frontcourt players, where they aren't likely to catch Jokić, Wembanyama or even Kevin Durant (who had more fan votes than Wemby at last count).

To say Curry is in sort of by default isn't fair, though. His scoring is down largely because he's only playing 31.6 minutes. He's still shooting 40.9 percent from three, leading the league in free-throw percentage at 93.9 and handing out 6.1 assists per game.

Well, this didn't take long.

In just his second season in the NBA, 21-year-old Victor Wembanyama is performing like one of the league's 10 best players.

On defense, he's already one of the best we've ever seen. His length has all five opponents thinking twice about almost every decision within almost every possession. He blocks shots at a rate we haven't seen in years, but he rarely compromises his team's defense to chase them. He can clog passing lanes, seemingly without trying. And his defensive rebounding finishes plenty of possessions.

True superstardom is typically found on the other end, though. And Wemby is getting close there, too. This season, he's putting up 24.4 points, 3.7 assists and 3.2 threes. His fluidity as a ball-handler, creator and shooter still seems impossible for a player his size. And he's shown more than enough in just a season and a half to suggest he could one day develop into a true offensive hub.

There are two no-brainers among the West's All-Star starters, and Nikola Jokić absolutely has to be one of them.

He may not win his fourth MVP in five years but is playing more than well enough for seemingly every Shai Gilgeous-Alexander argument to include some variety of: "Well, Jokić is still the best in the world, but…"

The Denver Nuggets' superstar center is averaging an almost unbelievable 30.1 points, 13.2 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 1.9 steals. He's shooting 47.5 percent from three. And he's somehow in the top four of all of those categories.

This isn't just one of the best seasons of any player in the Western Conference. It's one of the best seasons of all time. Jokić is currently on track to break his own record for single-season box plus/minus ("...a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player's contribution to the team when that player is on the court.").

The other no-brainer, of course, is SGA.

Just over halfway through what could be an MVP campaign (he's currently the betting favorite for the award at -600), he's averaging 32.0 points, 6.1 assists, 2.1 steals, 2.0 threes and 1.1 blocks.

When he's on the floor, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a point differential around that of a 74-win team. Yes, you read that right. Seventy-four.

Gilgeous-Alexander has truly become unguardable. He's a metronome of scoring mostly from inside the three-point line. And he does more than collect counting stats on defense. On that end, he's become a bona fide stopper.

SGA is not only an All-Star, he's been the best guard in the NBA in 2024-25. And he doesn't really have a challenger for that title.