The Hawks’ Trae Young — the man on top of most “snubs” lists following the announcement of the 2024 NBA All-Star reserves — and the Raptors Scottie Barnes will replace the injured Joel Embiid and Julius Randle as East All-Stars, the NBA announced.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver officially selects these replacements, although traditionally he has followed who was highest on the coach’s ballots for reserve players.
Embiid, voted as a starter by fans, is out following surgery to repair a torn left lateral meniscus, although there is hope he could return by the end of the season. Randle, selected by the coaches as a reserve, suffered a shoulder dislocation that will keep him out for several weeks, which includes All-Star weekend in Indianapolis.
Fans loved Young, voting him second among East guards, but when the player and media votes were added to the mix (both had him sixth), he fell out of the top two starting spots (Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard). While Young has long been polarizing with coaches and fellow players, it was surprising to see him not make the team when he has averaged 27.3 points and 10.9 assists a game this season.
Barnes also deserves to make it, even if he’s not as familiar to American audiences (because the Raptors rarely get put on national television games). He has made a leap this season, averaging 20.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game — Toronto traded away OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam to build around Barnes. The third-year player has seen his numbers dip a little of late as he has tried to mesh his game with Anunoby and RJ Barrett, but he earned this spot.
The only mild surprise is that with Embiid and Randle being bigs, Silver could have gone with Kristaps Porzingis in the name of roster balance (and given the Celtics, the team with the best record in the league, three All-Stars). Instead, he went with wings. If there are more replacements in the East expect Porzingis or Mikal Bridges of Brooklyn to be in the mix.
There have yet to be any replacements in the Western Conference.
