How many Indiana Pacers will make the All-Star team in 2021?
Heading into the season, the Indiana Pacers were considered one of the bottom seeds in the Eastern Conference with no real stars on the roster. Fast forward two months and the Pacers are fifth in the East and have three players fighting for an All-Star appearance. How likely are they to make the team this season?
Myles Turner to represent the Indiana Pacers?
Yes, I know, Myles Turner is a massive reach for the All-Star game because defense is not valued in voting for the highlight-filled event. Turner is having a career year and is on pace to win the Defensive Player of the Year award by season’s end. He is shooting well from all over the floor, knocking down a career-high 51.3 percent of his attempts.
He is also up to 14.0 points per game, his highest performance since 2016-17 when he scored 14.5 points per game in his first season as a starter. But that’s not enough to put him in contention for the All-Star game as we all know. In fact, he was not in the top-10 in the first count of fan votes that were released this week.
Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Lakers‘ LeBron James lead the NBA’s first All-Star fan voting returns. Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Wizards’ Bradley Beal join Durant and James as leaders at positions. pic.twitter.com/ukvOeyx49H
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2021
Defensively, Turner can make a bit of a case for a bid thanks to his league-leading 3.8 blocks per game and additional 1.3 steals. His presence near the rim has opponents staying outside or risking making the wrong end of the highlight reels. Turner is a menace under the basket and the Pacers would be one of the worst defenses in the league without his presence on that end. However, that won’t be enough to sway voters.
Likelihood: No chance