TORONTO – It was an uphill climb for both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic to be selected to next month’s All-Star Game just based on the team’s 20-28 record alone.
Factor in a crowded Eastern Conference backcourt and centers falling under the umbrella of frontcourt rather than their own position, and suddenly the two Bulls veterans will get themselves a nice vacation at home.
After the All-Star starters were announced last week, the reserves for both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference were announced on Thursday.
LaVine and Vucevic were beaten out by Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, Darius Garland, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Damian Lillard and Tyler Herro.
LaVine was somewhat of a snub but unfortunately his complaints would fall on deaf ears considering Tyrese Maxey, Tyrese Haliburton and Trae Young could all make better cases. Cunningham and Herro are first-time All-Stars and playing on better teams than LaVine, so it’s hard to argue against their cases.
As for Vucevic, he was up against it with the frontcourt being positionless, and again it was hard to discount Mobley – another first-timer – considering he’s on a Cleveland team that has started off 38-9 and sits atop the East.
LaVine was averaging 24 points and shooting 44.6% from three-point range, while Vucevic was 19.8 points per game to go along with 10.3 rebounds and shooting 39.3% from three.