Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. deserve a vote

Nikola Jokic’s favorite weekend of the year is nigh.

If his knee allows it, the Nuggets center is pretty much a lock to be sent to Los Angeles for an eighth consecutive All-Star Game on Feb. 15, when he will definitely be thrilled to be part of the festivities.

The voting window for the 2025-26 NBA All-Stars ended Wednesday, and the results will be of particular interest in Denver this year — even with Jokic’s inclusion being anticlimactic. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, long regarded as one of the best players in the league without All-Star recognition, has made a strong case to finally get over the hump with his best statistical start to a season.

Has he done enough in an unfairly competitive Western Conference? Despite the format of the “game” itself undergoing another sweeping overhaul — the 24 All-Stars will be divided into two eight-man U.S. teams and a world team to compete in a round-robin tournament — the league still wants to adhere to tradition in the selection process. Twelve All-Stars from each conference. Five from each recognized as “starters” in name only.

Voting on those starters is position-less and broken down into three factions. Fan submissions count for 50% of the vote, a media panel counts for 25% and players count for 25%. The seven “reserves” from each conference are then chosen by head coaches. Starters are announced Monday; reserves on Feb. 1.

Here is my official starters ballot, as well as my informal picks on who I think should earn the reserve spots.

Western Conference All-Star picks

Starters: Luka Doncic (LAL), Anthony Edwards (MIN), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC), Nikola Jokic (DEN), Victor Wembanyama (SAS).

I found myself choosing between six players for five spots in both conferences. The difficult exclusion in the West pretty clearly came down to Edwards and Steph Curry. They’re about as deadlocked as it gets, but I ultimately used Ant Man’s efficiency in the clutch as my tiebreaker. His timely shot-making has elevated Minnesota a tier above Golden State in the conference hierarchy: When I submitted my ballot, he was shooting 70.7% from the field in “clutch time” (to Curry’s 43.8%) and 57.1% from the 3-point line, helping the Wolves to a 9-5 record and 9.4 net rating in those situations. (The Nuggets experienced it even in a game they eventually won on Christmas.) The Warriors were 6-9 with a minus-11.4 net rating in clutch games with Curry playing.

The other four starters were no-brainers. Remember, there’s no minimum on games played for All-Star qualification, allowing voter discretion on superstars who’ve been hurt like Jokic and Wembanyama — the league’s best offensive and defensive players, respectively.

Reserves: Deni Avdija (POR), Steph Curry (GSW), Kevin Durant (HOU), Chet Holmgren (OKC), Kawhi Leonard (LAC), Jamal Murray (DEN), Julius Randle (MIN).

This is truly a cutthroat race. Yet I found Murray to be a no-doubter as I went through my list of candidates. Of the 64 players who’ve taken 200 or more 3s this season, he leads the NBA with a 44.6% clip on 285 attempts. His decision-making has been crisp. His passing placement has continued to be an underrated aspect of his game. And aside from the career-high numbers across the board, Murray has cemented his status as a deserving All-Star by leading the Nuggets through this stretch without Jokic.

There’s no way to justify selecting only one player from Oklahoma City, and I think Holmgren is a worthy second choice from the Thunder’s repository of talent. He’s one of the most valuable defenders in the league, and his offensive game has steadily expanded this season with a bit more off-the-dribble work and a 6.7% improvement in true shooting. (He now ranks eighth in the NBA in that category.)

Minnesota is the other team with two players listed here. I had Houston’s Alperen Sengun penciled in at first, but Randle stole the spot from him at the last minute. Their numbers are pretty comparable, but I just think Randle has been a little more essential to the offense of a team that I think is a little better than Houston. The Wolves actually have an 11.6 net rating when Randle is on the floor and Edwards isn’t. He stretches the floor a bit more reliably than Sengun. And assist-to-turnover ratio has to matter eventually if you’re the play-making hub of an offense. Sengun’s is 1.97. (Side note: Rudy Gobert has been excellent for Minnesota and also crossed my mind as an option.)

If All-Star selection didn’t support the facade of conference equality, then Sengun would absolutely be one of my 24 players. In general, my ballot would skew pretty heavily in favor of the West. I hated having to choose between players on lesser teams (Leonard, Avdija) and one particular guy on a more successful squad — I’ll get to him later. Ultimately, I decided Leonard and Avdija have simply been too good to leave out, elevating the Clippers and Blazers into much more competitive territory.

Eastern Conference All-Star picks

Starters: Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL), Jaylen Brown (BOS), Cade Cunningham (DET), Tyrese Maxey (PHL), Donovan Mitchell (CLE).

I’m sure the exclusion of Brunson will put me in the minority of voters. I took no pleasure in it, but I just had a hard time making a case for him over any of these candidates as I went one by one. Mitchell might be the most popular choice on the chopping block, largely because of Cleveland’s underwhelming first half of the season as a team. But the patron statistic of Nuggets fans defending Jokic’s honor over the years has been on/off net rating differential, and Mitchell’s is the second-highest in the league right now (behind Jokic) at 14.8.

That’s far from an ironclad measurement of individual impact, but I do think it’s revealing that Cleveland’s 8.4 net with “Spida” on the floor would be second-best in the NBA. He has also attempted the most valuable shot in the sport (the three) more times than anyone else in the league at a 39% clip.

The player I was closest to swapping out for Brunson was Brown, but I couldn’t get myself there. The scoring responsibility he shouldered to get the Celtics to second in the East without Jayson Tatum is one of the defining stories of this NBA season, not to mention his efficiency and his on-ball defense.

Reserves: Scottie Barnes (TOR), Jalen Brunson (NYK), Jalen Duren (DET), Jalen Johnson (ATL), Michael Porter Jr. (BKN), Norman Powell (MIA), Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK).

Look, this isn’t the most inspiring list you’ll ever see. The standards are just different in the East right now. I found myself choosing between a few guys performing below their preseason expectations toward the end — Towns, Evan Mobley, Desmond Bane. I also flirted with a couple of elite role players, including OG Anunoby and Derrick White, before settling on what’s probably a somewhat chalky set of picks.

Props to MPJ for what’s likely to be his first career All-Star nod, coinciding with Murray’s. The Nets are the worst team on this entire list, but his shot-making talent has ascended to a new level with higher volume.