Several established stars are already ruled out of All-Star contention through injuries. Others are bound to suffer a similar fate, leaving opportunities for players to land their first All-Star selections in 2025/26.
The fan vote and the format of the actual All-Star Game might be topics that provoke debate, and are often bemoaned, but the honor of being an NBA All-Star remains. Only a small percentage of players that make it to the world’s best hoops league even get considered for an All-Star berth. Let’s look at a few that could break through this year and notch this honor for the first time in their careers.
OG Anunoby
A career 37.5% three-point shooter, an All-Defense candidate, and coming off a career-high 18 points per game, OG Anunoby is a fringe contender to make the Eastern Conference’s All-Star roster.
His numbers aren’t going to increase drastically unless Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns are sidelined, but could Anunoby sneak in as a third All-Star if the Knicks are on course for a 60-win season when voting takes place?
Stranger things have happened. And remember, the East is missing plenty of star talent this season.
Shaedon Sharpe
Of all 10 players featured here, Shaedon Sharpe has the lowest percentage chance of being an All-Star. His true shooting is five points below league average for his career, he was in the third percentile in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, and he’s taking far too many long twos.
Still, what if Sharpe cuts down the long twos in favor of threes? What if he finally uses his athleticism to become a plus defensive player? What if he is even more relentless in attacking the rim, where he shot 71% last season?
Portland probably won’t be good enough for Sharpe to garner attention. He might never be anything more than a toolsy, raw talent, but the hope is there he can take a leap in 2025/26.
Desmond Bane
Swapping the west for the east is enough to significantly elevate Desmond Bane’s All-Star chances. He’s had a couple of near misses during his time with Memphis and should take on a greater role on the offensively challenged Magic.
Look for Bane to be up around 18 field-goal attempts per game, as he was a couple of seasons ago. He’s made 41% of his threes across his NBA career and has made considerable progress as a playmaker.
Set up by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, Bane should average 20+ points per game with four or five assists. That could be enough for an All-Star nod if Orlando is as competitive as projected.
Franz Wagner
If it’s a given that Banchero makes the All-Star team, it could come down to Bane or Wagner joining the former first overall pick on the roster.
The question with Wagner is whether he can get his three-point shot back. He’s been below 30% in each of the last two seasons with clunky mechanics. He still averaged 24.2 points per game last season, though, with a career-high 4.7 assists.
There’s a path to Wagner scoring 26+ points with 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists. That will warrant an All-Star slot, regardless of Orlando’s record.
Jamal Murray
The best NBA player to never make an All-Star team? Jamal Murray is surely in the conversation.
Murray’s absence from the midsummer showpiece isn’t necessarily unjust. He has tended to perform better in the second half of the regular season than the first and has saved many of his purple patches for the playoffs. Of course, there’s also the small matter of the guards he’s been up against in the Western Conference.
Coming off a full summer of preparation and injury-free, this could be Murray’s best shot at breaking his All-Star duck.
Josh Giddey
It’s quickly becoming cliché to refer to the second half of Josh Giddey’s 2024-25. Across 31 games, Giddey shot 43.8% from three on 4.4 attempts per game, while averaging 18.9/9.1/7.9 with 2.2 stocks.
That spell includes some nothing-to-play-for games. It’s a period when the Bulls were able to focus on the future after Zach LaVine, and maybe it was an unsustainable run of shooting efficiency.
Still, it gives something for Giddey to build on. Maybe, just maybe, he takes the leap that Chicago needs this season.
Jalen Duren
There’s no requirement to name a center in the All-Star game. Karl-Anthony Towns was the only five on the east’s roster last season, though Evan Mobley was named among the reserves.
Two centers should really be represented in Los Angeles. Jalen Duren doesn’t exactly have the most formidable rivals outside of Towns, with Joel Embiid expected to miss time and Jarrett Allen’s role relatively unclear as Cleveland moves more towards Mobley at the five.
Duren is an athletic double-double machine. He’s a decent rim protector and could be in the mix if Detroit is a top four seed.
Jalen Green
Jalen Green’s shoot-first archetype isn’t a personal favorite. It’s a player type that has often earned All-Star recognition, however, particularly if his scoring jumps into the high-20s.
Now a Phoenix Sun, Green will be taking 20+ shots per game if Devin Booker is sidelined for a period. The Durant trade banked on Green becoming a foundational piece in Arizona.
Durability works in Green’s favor. He’s not missed a game in the last two regular seasons and could put up some big-time numbers on a weak Suns team.
Trey Murphy III
Trey Murphy III has improved each year since making it to the NBA. A 6’8 wing who can really shoot the ball, Murphy took on more ball-handling responsibilities before suffering a season-ending torn labrum in 2024-25.
Competition is brutal for an All-Star forward spot in the west. Murphy’s Pelicans aren’t going to be at the center of national conversations unless it’s about trading Zion Williamson.
New Orleans suddenly letting Murphy take 20+ shots per game is his only route to becoming an All-Star. It’s not out of the question he gets scorching-hot from the field and earns a spot as a replacement.
Ivica Zubac
There were murmurs Ivica Zubac was in the All-Star discussion last year. He ultimately missed out but was rewarded with sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year and made the All-Defense Second Team.
One of the best rebounders in the game, a hard-hitting screener, and coming off his highest minutes total of his career, Zubac has quietly become one of the best centers outside of the game’s true elites.
He probably needs an injury or two to make the All-Star game on his home floor, but he’s not far off.
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