Ten deserving All-Star starters

One of the traditions among NBA fans, media members and general observers around this time of year is picking our own personal All-Star game starters and reserves.

With the official starters as voted by the fans announced last night, here now are the 10 players who deserve to start the All-Star game, with some brief thoughts.

Eastern Conference:
Guards

Dwyane Wade - 18.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.8 SPG

Wade is still the best guard in the East, but the obvious knock on his All-Star starting candidacy this season is that he's missed 13 of Miami's 43 games so far, and given how cautious the Heat have been with him, there's no guarantees he'll even take the floor in New Orleans. Still, if he can, he should.

Kyle Lowry - 16.1 PPG, 7.3 APG, 4.1 RPG, 1.6 SPG

Lowry's numbers aren't quite as gaudy as John Wall's or Kyrie Irving's, but you can easily make the argument that he's been the best two-way point guard in the East through the first half of the season. He's also the best player on a winning team in the East, and that means something.

Just missed the cut: John Wall, Kyrie Irving
Wall should definitely join Lowry in the 'deserved All-Star' backcourt if Wade doesn't play.

Frontcourt

LeBron James - 26.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 6.5 APG, 1.3 SPG

The analysis of why LeBron James should start the All-Star game begins and ends with the simple fact that he's LeBron James. As magical an offensive run that Kevin Durant is on right now, LeBron is still the most dominating force on an NBA court.

Paul George - 23.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.8 SPG

George has established himself as the second-best two-way player in the game after LeBron, a top-five player overall, the best player on the team with the best record, and now also as one of the most popular players alive, finishing third overall with 1,211,318 All-Star votes.

Roy Hibbert - 14.4 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.1 BPG, 1.6 APG

You can't look at individual statistics when discussing Roy Hibbert's value to the Pacers, but the argument can certainly be made that Hibbert's defensive impact is greater than Carmelo Anthony's offensive impact.

Just missed the cut: Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh
This isn't meant as another rip job on Anthony, who's actually having a fantastic individual season in his own right. It really is just a testament to how invaluable Hibbert's defense is for the best team in the league right now. As for Bosh, he remains one of the most underrated overall players, and his lesser role as a No. 3 option for the champs shouldn't take away from his starting five candidacy.

Western Conference:
Guards

Chris Paul - 19.6 PPG, 11.2 APG, 4.6 RPG, 2.4 SPG

Whether Paul will be healthy in time to suit up in his former home of New Orleans has yet to be determined, but Paul has actually played more games than Wade this season and absolutely needs to be the first guard mentioned as a starter in the West, or in any conversation of guards playing today.

Stephen Curry - 23.5 PPG, 9.2 APG, 4.6 RPG, 1.9 SPG

What's there to say about one of the most exciting players to watch? Curry is averaging career bests in points, assists (which have exploded this season), steals and rebounds, and is one of only three players with multiple triple-doubles already this season.

Just missed the cut: James Harden, Tony Parker, Damian Lillard
If Paul can't go, Harden would be the correct choice to share starting West guard duties with Curry.

Frontcourt

Kevin Durant - 31.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.5 SPG

If Durant maintains his current averages, he'd be just the third player to ever average at least 31 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one steal in a season. The other two? Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Enough said.

Kevin Love - 25.0 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 4.1 APG

Love has been in a bit of a slump over the last couple weeks, averaging "just" 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds in his last seven games. When 18.3 and 11.7 is considered a slump, and when a slump brings your overall numbers "down" to 25 and 13, you're enjoying one hell of a season.

LaMarcus Aldridge - 24.7 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.0 BPG

Aldridge is top-five in points per game, top-five in rebounds per game, top-10 in Win Shares, top-10 in PER and fifth in total minutes played. And he's doing it for a 32-11 Blazers team that has beaten the likes of Indiana, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Clippers, Houston and Golden State already this season.

Just missed the cut: Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard
Griffin and Aldridge were probably neck and neck heading into last night. Then LMA dropped 44, 13, 5 and 2 on the Nuggets. As for Howard, his presence for the Rockets has probably been a little underrated this season, but it's hard to make the case for him starting ahead of Durant, Love, Aldridge or even Griffin. Hopefully Daryl Morey isn't reading this.

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With the All-Star reserves being announced next Thursday, we'll return with the complete 'deserving All-Star' rosters to follow