Should Eric Bledsoe Be an All-Star?

It has been a tremendous season so far for the Milwaukee Bucks, as the cream and green became the first club to 40 wins after a victory over the Hornets in Paris last week. They are the best team in the East right now by a wide margin, and will more than likely finish with the best record in the league.

The team’s success is due in large part to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is making a strong case for back to back MVPs. Giannis will be an All-Star captain alongside LeBron James for the second straight year.

The Greek Freak’s partner in crime, Khris Middleton, has had a strong first half of the season as well. After he signed a max contract extension over the offseason, fans were wary of the money given to Middleton and thought perhaps the Bucks should have focused instead on the rest of the roster.

Middleton started a bit slow, but has still been a consistent force; As of late, he’s really begun to heat up. For the second consecutive year, Middleton is likely to be an All-Star. But what about the third piece of the team’s big three, Eric Bledsoe?

In ten years in the league, Bledsoe has never had the honor of playing in the NBA’s showcase game in February, despite some solid production. That said, Bledsoe’s luck could very well change. He should hear his name called when the 2020 All-Star reserves are announced at the end of the month.

Bledsoe’s case hinges on a few key factors. The first is the Bucks’ success. Usually a team with the top record in the conference is going to have multiple all-stars, and when this team has one of the best records ever through 45 games at 39-6, it is deserving of at least three nods.

One prime example of this is Mike Budenholzer’s 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks, a 60-win team and no. 1 seed in the East over LeBron’s Cavs that year. They got four players to the All-Star Game including now Buck Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague. There are many other instances of the league’s most dominant club sending multiple players to the ASG. The Bucks have arguably the best player in the NBA right now, but a team can not achieve such a dominant record without high caliber play from its second and third pieces.

The next piece in the case for Bledsoe is his competition. When looking at the two conferences, most would admit the West just has more star power than the East. The guards in the East are certainly bonafide talents, but none of them stand out over Bledsoe. The two who probably do are Kemba Walker and Trae Young, both of whom are already on the team.

Bledsoe’s two biggest competitors probably come from the Atlantic Division: Kyle Lowry and Ben Simmons. Lowry has been an All-Star each of his past five seasons in Toronto. He is scoring at a much higher rate than last season, almost out of necessity with all of the injuries on that Raptors team.

Simmons, meanwhile, is right around his career average of 16 points this season, and is also posting a career-high 8.5 assists, as well as 2.2 steals. Simmons has been good, but Philly has struggled. The Sixers’ disappointing record could cost him here, though.

Other guards who could be deserving of a nod are Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving, and Zach LaVine, but each one has something working against them. Beal has put up some impressive numbers, but plays for an awful Washington team. Kyrie Irving has missed a fair chunk of the season, but may get in on name recognition. LaVine has fully displayed his talents this year in Chicago, but that team is mediocre as well. It feels like he just might be a year away from being an All-Star.

Bledsoe might earn an ASG nod on the strength of his play. Bledsoe averages 15 points per game on a team that doesn’t necessarily need him to score every night. However, when they do, he comes through, as Bledsoe has had numerous nights scoring 20 or more, including 29- and 30-point games versus All-Star guard Damian Lillard this season.

Bledsoe averages five assists and nearly five rebounds a game as well, all while playing the fewest minutes per game since his bench days at the beginning of his career with the Clippers. Per 100 possessions, Bledsoe averages out at 26/9/8, a very impressive line for a point guard.

What really makes Bledsoe an All-Star is the part of his game that is overlooked: his defense. The numbers don’t pop on the stat sheet either, but as we’ve seen with some of the guys mentioned above, every night in the East is a tough matchup at point guard. In a league that has become all about offense, defense is often overlooked.

For the second straight year, the Bucks rank number one in defensive rating, holding opponents to 101.6 points per game. A lot of that is thanks to Bledsoe. Containing the point guard is a key to success in basketball, and Bledsoe has done that as well as anyone over the past few years.

Bledsoe deserves to hear his name called when the All-Star reserve roster is announced at the end of the week. He has been waiting 10 years for his first all-star appearance and has no better opportunity than this season to finally make it happen. The great success of this Bucks team really gives him a chance, and perhaps less competition at the position in years past, as well as the contributions the former Kentucky product has made to help the Bucks off to one of the best starts the NBA has ever seen, Bledsoe wholly deserves to be lacing up his shoes on February 16th in Chicago.

Statistics Courtesy of Basketball-Reference