With the NBA playoffs rapidly approaching, it’s time to select the creme de la creme of the league. The crop is as rich as ever. Ranking players is never an easy task, especially considering the abnormal circumstances, including underwhelming team performances from supposed contenders and astronomic rises from previously thought lesser ones. The 2022 All-NBA teams are full of talent.
LeBron James has missed the postseason for the third time in his storied career; Kevin Durant, another future Hall of Fame entry, also finds himself in a less-than-ideal situation as the Brooklyn Nets are a lock for the East play-in tournament. You also have young players like Ja Morant and Luka Doncic leading their respective teams to surprisingly successful seasons.
In one of the more challenging All-NBA selections, Def Pen Sports gritted its teeth through the selection process. Weighing the importance of games played and overall team performance played a significant role in the exercise as the tiebreaker in a vast talent pool.
2022 All-NBA Selections
Lance’s First Team
- Luka Doncic
- Devin Booker
- Jayson Tatum
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Nikola Jokic
Let’s get to the elephant in the room. Despite LeBron James’s flirting with the scoring title, he’s not on my first team. Earlier this season, I did begrudgingly insert him with the best five players. However, mainly due to the Los Angeles Lakers failing to make the play-in and James missing too many games, I left him off the first team in this exercise.
In his place, Jayson Tatum led his team from disgrace to second place in the Eastern Conference. While the Boston Celtics went on an impressive 15-5 streak in the last 20 games, Tatum averaged 30 points on 40-percent 3-point shooting, 64.8 true shooting, and an astounding 18.2 net rating.
The other notable selection comes in the form of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. In the three-man race for the 2022 league MVP, Jokic leads the pack, despite valiant efforts from Joel Embiid and a late push from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alluding to a future NBA award, it’s evident who I think will/should win.
Luka Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks on an admirable run, with his franchise in the driver’s seat for home-court advantage. Marking the first time Dallas has had such a competitive edge since the 2011 postseason. At the guard spot, Devin Booker will earn his first All-NBA nod in his seventh season.
David Loaiza’s First Team
- Ja Morant
- Devin Booker
- Kevin Durant
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Joel Embiid
The Memphis Grizzlies were a nice surprise last season in the play-in tournament and later in the first round against the Utah Jazz. For this season an improvement was expected but it certainly wasn’t that they were going to be one of the top two teams in the regular season. Ja Morant is the leader of this team and his jump shows why this team can’t be underestimated. Morant went from 19 to 27 points per game, he has a PER of 24.6 which ranks in the top-10, and doubled his win shares (6.8) in comparison to last season.
As for Kevin Durant, he has been one the most consistent, with Harden leaving mid-season and Kyrie as a part-time player, when talking about the Brooklyn Nets and has kept the ship from sinking. In the center spot both Embiid and Jokic are worthy of it but only one can have it. Personally, I have the Sixers big man ahead of the Joker for the MVP voting because this season we are seeing a new face of Embiid, the one everyone has been waiting to see. The dominant big man will put his team on his shoulder and carry them to a successful season.
Lance’s Second Team
- Stephen Curry
- Ja Morant
- LeBron James
- DeMar DeRozan
- Joel Embiid
Golden State Warriors franchise cornerstone Stephen Curry warrants first-team considerations. However, shooting slips and injury caused him to fall to the not-so-shabby second team. Similar to Curry, injuries caused Memphis Grizzlies Ja Morant a slight drop.
I experienced a mental struggle justifying someone at the wingspot other than James. However, despite teams being sardine-stuffed in the standings, no one else stood out. Withstanding barks of “he missed 25+ games” and “his team stinks!” leave the voters with a pressing predicament. In the end, James coming dangerously close to the scoring title at an advanced basketball age and a lack of another wing demanding such a spot will have the leader of a losing team on the second team.
With only two All-NBA honors in his 13 NBA seasons, DeMar DeRozan will have the third selection at 32. Earlier in the 2021-2022 season, DeRozan captivated sports media by earning their trust as an MVP candidate. Speaking of an MVP candidate, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, yet again, is up for the prestigious league award. It’s a no-brainer for the 2021 NBA MVP runner-up to either land on the first or second All-NBA selection.
David Loaiza’s Second Team
- Luka Doncic
- Stephen Curry
- Jayson Tatum
- DeMar DeRozan
- Nikola Jokic
The success the Boston Celtics have experienced in the last 30 games of the season, complies me to put Jayson Tatum in the second team and slide LeBron to the third team and for DeRozan, it was the work he did in the first three months of the season with the Bulls as one of the top teams in the East.
In the guard talk, Luka has his Mavericks as the fourth-best team in the West, very close to the Warriors, and without is heart and soul of the team’s offense.
Lance’s Third Team
- Chris Paul
- Jrue Holiday
- Pascal Siakam
- Kevin Durant
- Karl-Anthony Towns
The 2022 All-NBA third-team selections inspired group brainstorms, questioning my team-selecting guidelines. Frankly, when an exercise has a financial consequence for the players, the league should administer basic guidelines with rules and parameters, or do away with positional locks altogether.
Nonetheless, I selected Chris Paul, as the Phoenix Suns’ franchise-best record calls for them having multiple players on 2022 All-NBA teams. The other guard spot was the main source of my internal battle. While Trae Young has a statistical say in the last All-NBA team, the Atlanta Hawks’ disappointing record caused a pause in his insertion.
Jrue Holiday, however, pops up in numerous advanced stats leaderboards, including ranking seventh in efficiency differential (at least 2000 minutes logged) fourth in points per 100 possessions, ahead of Trae Young.
In a season where he failed to make the NBA All-Star game, Toronto Raptors Pascal Siakam has a legitimate shot at making a 2022 All-NBA team. Although his counting stats don’t hit you in bold print, the team’s success and off-on numbers indicate he’s deserving of the conversation.
Despite missing +25 games, similar to James, Kevin Durant will learn his tenth All-NBA honors. However, due to injury, and team success, the two-time NBA champion will have to do it on the third team, a first in his career.
For the last spot on the All-NBA selections, I picked Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns. Dubbing himself “the greatest shooting big man ever”, Towns followed up such a gasp-inducing claim with the play to boot. Averaging 40 percent from deep on five attempts, the Timberwolves’ success, and also Town’s improvement on the defensive end, helps the case earning of rewarding him with his second career All-NBA honor.
David Loaiza’s Third Team
- Chris Paul
- Jrue Holiday
- Jimmy Butler
- LeBron James
- Karl-Anthony Towns
The real question with LeBron is whether voters are going to put him in any All-NBA teams with the season the Lakers had. In a way, he was the only positive aspect that can be discussed with the Lakers and as the second-highest scorer in the league he deserves some recognition as one of the greats but his team performance makes him slide to the third team.
The Miami Heat have locked the first seed in the East and even with a lot of inconsistency and time missed by his best players. Butler is the leader of the team and if they are going to have a representative it will be the forward.
