One of the newer mechanics of the All-Star Game in recent years is the addition of a draft prior to the game where the two captains choose players to fill out their rosters. Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton was going to have to be chosen by either Team LeBron or Team Giannis.
This season, there was an additional wrinkle in that the teams were going to be draft immediately prior to tip off live on TNT, so the teams were going to have a chance to practice together or get any amount of organization going prior to tipoff. While there may be some drawbacks to this, it was enticing to think that we were going to watch pure schoolyard basketball with the best players in the world.
You could tell prior to the draft that all of the players were waiting with anticipation to see how the draft would end up shaking out. Additionally, there might have been some built up anticipation of who might be the last person taken in the draft, see last years video:
In honor of the #NBAAllStar draft coming up. Please do yourself a favor & re-watch last years. I cackled for 20 mins watching this live. pic.twitter.com/JedOJsatgM
— Sean Little (@ChicagoFlow) February 19, 2023
This year, to start the draft, the reserves were drafted first with the starters being drafted second, likely in an attempt to make the final selection of the draft someone who already was voted in as a starter.
The results of the 2023 draft and pick number
Team Giannis
- Damian Lillard
- Jrue Holiday
- (After trying to pick Ja Morant) Shai Gelgeous-Alexander
- DeMar DeRozan
- Pascal Siakim
- Bam Adebayo
- Domantas Sabonis
- Jayson Tatum
- Ja Morant
- Donovan Mitchell
- Lauri Markkenon
Team LeBron
- Anthony Edwards
- Jaylen Brown
- Paul George
- Tyrese Haliburton
- Julius Randle
- DeAaron Fox
- Jarrett Jackson Jr.
- Joel Embiid
- Kyrie Irving
- Luka Doncic
- Nikola Jokic
Why it matter for Pacers’ fans
Tyrese went towards the middle of the reserves, going ahead of players such as Pascal Siakam, Domantas Sabonis, and Bam Adebayo. He went behind players that make sense such as Paul George and Damian Lillard, superstar level players. Overall, Tyrese showed that he is gaining respect along the league.
Pacers electric three-point contest performance pushes Lillard to edge
It has been, at times, a magical season for the Indiana Pacers. With 2 players in the 3 point contest, only 1 could win. Would one of them do so?