Who Deserves an NBA All-Star Spot? Here Are Our Picks, Backed by Data

Analytics All-Stars, Part 2: The West's best, featuring three first-time selections

Our picks feature both perennial All-Stars and young players whose time has come. (Eakin Howard/Tim Warner/David Berding/Getty Images)

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Today, it's the West's turn, as we answer the question: What if a player’s impact mattered more than counting stats when selecting All-Stars?

We'll use my own metric, xRAPM, to determine who should be an All-Star — xRAPM carefully weighs lineup data, NBA.com's advanced stats, and box-score stats to estimate the impact that each player has on winning and losing.

Because the All-Star Game and the selection process are more about offense than defense, I created a modified xRAPM for this column that reflects that tendency: Offensive xRAPM is weighed twice as heavily as Defensive xRAPM to determine these Eastern Conference Analytics All-Stars.

See also: Analytics All-Stars, Part 1: Eastern Conference

Starters

Luka Dončić

Rank in modified xRAPM: 3 (among Western Conference players)

Dončić is the best point guard — and the third-best player overall — on the planet, and he should return from his left calf injury by the Feb. 16 All-Star Game.