Selecting The 2024 All-NBA Teams

After six long months of basketball, it’s time to dive into the most deserving All-NBA selections for the 2023-24 season.

These are always the most difficult award choices because the criteria is subjective. Do you value individual stats? Do you lean more toward team success and try to reward the top seeds? How do you weigh rookie sensations that weren’t expected to win, but looked absurdly dominant?

The NBA made it even tougher with the positionless format. But I’m thankful for the change because All-NBA shouldn’t force you to select a certain number of guards, forwards, or centers. This change was for the better. Basketball is a game of versatility.

With the league’s new 65-game requirement in place, several superstar names won’t be eligible for this recognition. But for those who made the cut, let’s sort through who should make the first, second, and third teams:

All-NBA First Team

It’s best not to spoil my MVP column this week, which will include all five of these First Team selections. So, I’ll provide a brief snapshot of their individual greatness and cases for being honored here. After all, each of them should be written in Sharpie. They are no-brainers.

Full, in-depth analysis on their seasons will come while discussing the MVP order.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:

• For a single season, SGA became the 13th different player in NBA history to score 30-plus points more than 50 times. One could argue he was the most consistent player in the league from night to night.
• He spearheaded the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history as the Thunder finished first in the Western Conference with 57 wins.
• For the fourth consecutive season, he led the NBA in drives per game (23.5) and was the leader of OKC’s paint-and-spray offense that ranked number one in 3-point efficiency.

Luka Doncic:

• Doncic won the 2024 scoring title with 33.9 points per game while enjoying the best three-point shooting of his career at 38.2%.
• There isn’t a player in the world that can generate as many high-quality shots for his teammates like Doncic does every night. With the dual threat of his pull-up shooting and ability to draw multiple defenders on his drives, he creates an environment where everyone can thrive — both weakside shooters and rim-runners.

Jayson Tatum:

• You aren’t going to find a player with Tatum’s scoring volume, defensive activity, and winning percentage that fails to make All-NBA First Team. It wouldn’t be justified leaving him off. Looking back at Devin Booker’s First Team nod in 2022, there was no discussion about whether someone 14 games behind Phoenix in the standings should knock him out. Boston just had an historic season and he’s their most impactful player, without question.
• Tatum shot a career-high 57.3% on drives to the basket, more than five percentage points better than last season. That was in addition to his 37% on pull-up threes for the second half of the year when Boston decided to throttle opponents.

Giannis Antetokounmpo:

• You might not find a more underrated season than the one Giannis had. It was the first time in NBA history any player has averaged 30 points per game on at least 60% shooting.
• Antetokounmpo’s passing vision and willingness to make the quicker read were vastly improved this year as he understood the value of sacrifice while playing with a co-star.
• He smashed the record for most restricted area buckets in the modern era with 661 makes at the rim. The previous season-high was Shaquille O’Neal with 571 during his 2000 MVP season.

Nikola Jokic:

• The Joker is breaking basketball as we know it. If averaging 26 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists on supreme efficiency is supposed to be normal today, what do you think players from the 1980s or 90s would say if they matched up against him? He’s a wizard on the floor.
• With Jokic on the court, the Nuggets outscored teams by 682 total points this season. It was the highest point differential for any individual this year, including Celtics players (remember, Boston posted the fifth-highest point differential for any team in history).
• This will be Jokic’s fourth career First Team selection. He should’ve had another last year if the NBA didn’t stick to positions.

All-NBA Second Team

Jalen Brunson started making a surge for First Team, but it’s difficult to ignore the gargantuan difference in team success between him and Tatum. The Celtics were 57-17 with Tatum in the lineup, outscoring teams by 11.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Tatum was the (clear) top dog on a team that finished 14 games ahead of the second-place Knicks. Players of that caliber, with that kind of resume, don’t get left off the All-NBA First Team — especially if they are among the top scorers in basketball. It just doesn’t happen.

Still, it’s important that Brunson’s phenomenal season doesn’t get undersold. Absolutely nobody outside of New York saw this type of leap coming. If Mark Cuban and the Mavericks did in 2022, Brunson would still be co-starring with Doncic and Dallas might be in position to win the West.

On a per-75 possession scale, Brunson clocked in at 31.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists for a team that hit 50 wins. In terms of total 30-point games, he’s fourth with 34. Bump that up to 40 points and he’s got 10 of them, second to only Doncic.

There are only a handful of players in the world who can match Brunson’s craftiness, patience, and ability to navigate through traffic. His official 6’2” listing might be generous, yet he manages to bully his way through the lane and finish with such grace. Brunson has converted 79 ‘and-1s’ from 2-point range, second in the NBA behind Antetokounmpo. It’s more than Doncic and tied with Zion Williamson, which is absolutely wild considering his size.

Brunson also takes no prisoners hunting pull-up jumpers against drop coverage. His off-the-dribble shooting is, by far, the biggest factor in him becoming an MVP candidate. He has taken 128 more pull-up threes than last season while maintaining superstar efficiency. Only 14 players have shot at least 300 pull-up triples this year, and Brunson ranks fourth among that group with a 37.2% conversion rate. For context, that’s slightly higher than Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard.

There is no perfect coverage for him, unless you have long and athletic wings up and down the lineup to switch everything. The fact you can argue Brunson just had the greatest Knicks season in literal decades should make him a lock for this spot. He’s the savior New York needed.

Kevin Durant’s selection to the Second Team should be a no-brainer. Yes, Phoenix’s season has gone from sour to sweet ... and back to sour again. However, as I examined last month, the production at age 35 is almost unprecedented. Only LeBron James has matched this level of greatness after turning 35, and Durant remains one of the most feared offensive talents.

KD reached the 75-game mark this season, the first time he’s avoided a lower body injury and played a full schedule since the 2019 Achilles tear. This is his fifth-highest 3-point percentage (41.3%) of his 16-year career.

By the way, just to contextualize Durant’s absurd NBA journey: His scoring rate of 26.2 points per 36 minutes would be the sixth-lowest of his career. Think about that. When a remarkable season is technically one of his worst years, that’s how you know he’s among the legends.

There is just no logical way Durant can be left off the second team. He’s made 77.4% of his attempts at the rim, 50.2% of his floater range looks, and 51.8% of his long two-point jumpers. Officially notching his fifth season above 50% from the mid-range, he tied Chris Paul for the most years above that mark in NBA history, minimum 300 attempts. ‘Efficiency God’ might be written on his Hall-of-Fame plaque when he enters Springfield.

LeBron might have an argument for this spot, but Durant’s steadiness and defensive impact give him the nod over his longtime rival.

Defensively, KD played a significant role in turning Phoenix’s season around. He was a major cog in Vogel’s system, serving as a secondary rim protector when acting as a free safety and putting out fires at the rim. Although the Suns gave up too much dribble penetration this season, attackers often had to deal with Durant’s seven-foot frame near the basket when he’d rotate over.

The Suns were tied for fifth in halfcourt defensive rating from February 1st to the end of the season (34 games). There were many reasons for it, but Durant deserves a large portion of the credit.

Kawhi Leonard missing the last eight games with knee inflammation is certainly worrisome for the Clippers’ championship hopes. However, any notion that he should slip to Third Team because of this absence doesn’t make much sense. If you meet the 65-game eligibility, which he did, then your placement on the All-NBA teams should be based on production and merit.

Leonard’s impact is the number one reason LA found itself in homecourt position. Without the cushion he helped them build before his knee flared up, they would’ve dipped to fifth or sixth. During the Clippers’ most dominant stretch of play, from Nov. 17 to Feb. 5, they were 31-8 with the league’s best offensive rating (122.3). With Leonard on the floor during that time, just shy of half the season, they outscored teams by 13 points per 100 possessions.

Both Leonard and Durant joined a very short list of players to average at least 23 points per game while eclipsing 55% from two and 40% from deep. It had only been done 11 times in NBA history before this year. Leonard actually did it last season, too, but missed a lot more action due to injuries.

Among qualified players, Leonard finished 10th in Box Plus-Minus (BPM) and tied for eighth with his teammate Paul George in Estimated Plus-Minus (EPM).

This was the freshest and springiest Kawhi has looked since the early 2018-19 season in Toronto. He returned to an apex predator on the defensive end, ripping the ball straight out of dudes’ hands for transition opportunities and making extra efforts as a weakside helper.

Also, Leonard’s 76 dunks were a career-high despite missing 14 games. Teams could not handle him once he found a driving lane. He shot 359-of-561 in the paint (64%) and scored 1.20 points per isolation this season, ranking in the 93rd percentile.

Anthony Edwards’ ascension to the All-NBA category should’ve been expected. Even so, he’s made outrageous strides from year three to four. The tangible difference in his patience and decision-making are equally as impressive as the herculean leaps in the air. When Edwards takes flight, only one thing is on his mind: Carnage.

For nearly a decade, the most satisfying moment in basketball was Steph Curry launching off the dribble — and it still might be. But now, there’s competition. Jokic looking for passing angles from the elbow or Edwards using the hardwood as a trampoline have entered the chat.

When Karl Towns went down with his meniscus injury, Edwards was the offensive engine that kept Minnesota afloat. Not only understanding you will have to carry a higher usage, but executing it without shooting your team out of games is an underrated trait in those situations. It’s a balance that many young players can’t strike.

And I’m sorry Rudy Gobert apologists, but a phenomenal defense can only take you so far. The Wolves still had to score at a respectable level to stay in the No. 1 seed race. Edwards steered them offensively and showed great maturity all year with his downhill attacks and reading the floor.

Edwards’ assist rate increased by more than five percentage points while his turnover rate was largely unaffected.

The Wolves had a +6.1 net rating in 1,700 possessions with Edwards on the floor and Gobert sitting. Their defensive rating was still in the 78th percentile during those minutes, too — not elite, but certainly better than average.

Minnesota still had a chance for the No. 1 seed on the final day of the regular season. Gobert is going to win Defensive Player of the Year and Chris Finch will be in the mix for Coach of the Year. It’s only right to reward their best offensive talent, too.

The only players that would’ve threatened Edwards’ Second Team spot were Devin Booker and LeBron James had their respective teams finished higher in the standings.

Up until the very last day of sifting through the candidates, I had Devin Booker on the second team instead of Anthony Davis. The scoring output from Booker, dropping at least 50 three separate times while still carrying heavy playmaking duties, seemed too elite to exclude him.

As the end of the season drew closer, though, it just didn’t feel right to have Booker ahead of him in these discussions. The Lakers closed the gap in wins and put together an impressive final stretch of the season. They won 16 of their last 23 games, ranking third in offensive rating during that span.

Davis matched his efficiency marks from last season while being much healthier this time around. He played in 76 games, twenty more than last year, and maintained his 58% shooting on twos despite taking nearly 300 more shots.

While Davis won’t win Defensive Player of the Year because Rudy Gobert quarterbacked one of the best team defenses of the modern era, the voting might be close. Davis is still the most well-rounded defender in the game and carried a ton of responsibility for the Lakers.

He’s a nightmare to score on when switching onto perimeter players, continues to be terrific in drop coverage because of his length and recovery speed, and thrives as a weakside rotator when his guards give up a driving lane.

AD’s presence and health allowed the Lakers to finish No. 1 in clutch-time win rate. With him on the floor, LA was 23-7 in games that entered the clutch (the score within five points with five or fewer minutes remaining). Many of his most ridiculous defensive plays and massive blocks this season came in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line.

This was also AD’s best defensive rebounding season of his career, collecting 28.3% of the available defensive boards while he was on the floor. It was slightly higher than his 2017 campaign when he was named to First Team All-NBA.

All-NBA Third Team

With the Suns narrowly escaping the play-in bracket and only being 2-3 games ahead of the Lakers and Warriors, any lead that Booker held in the ‘team success’ department is pretty small at this point. That’s no longer a meaningful tiebreaker in Booker’s back pocket when stacking him up with AD or Steph.

But make no mistake: Booker has been one of the top 12 players in basketball from October to April and deserves to be recognized with (at least) Third Team honors. Some might slide him on the Second Team and that could be justified.

For me, this spot made the most sense because Booker and Curry had very similar years and one doesn’t belong above the other. Therefore, with KD, Kawhi, Brunson, and Edwards having stronger cases, the most logical path was to replace Booker with Davis, a two-way force that’s been one of the best defensive players alive.

Booker’s season, individually, deserves all the flowers. He didn’t whine about absorbing more of the playmaking burden — he welcomed it.

When James Jones orchestrated this Suns roster, it was designed to put the ball in Booker’s hands more often. He became their de facto point guard for the first half of the season, carving up every coverage thrown his way with the sole intention of manufacturing healthy offense for his teammates.

While it’s true Booker is a scorer at heart, he still doesn’t get enough credit for being willing to get off the ball quickly when blitzes come. He’ll string out a defense, draw a double team from 35 feet away, and trust his teammates to make plays while the opponent is in rotation.

If teams refuse to trap him? Well, he’s one of three players this season with three 50+ point games. He’s mastered nearly every scoring angle and is probably the best mid-range creator in basketball at the moment.

Booker just became the 11th player in NBA history to average at least 27 points and 6.5 assists on 60% true shooting, joining the likes of prime James Harden, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s Suns column, 49 wins for Phoenix shouldn’t be viewed as a failure based on what they experienced, injury-wise, during the first 30 games of the schedule. Booker and the Suns played at a 54-win clip after December 28, a winning percentage that would’ve put them in firm position for homecourt advantage.

Even in a ‘down’ year for Steph Curry’s lofty standards, he’s still one of the five best players on the planet. There’s arguably no greater show than Curry sprinting off multiple screens, catching the ball with almost no separation between him and the defender, and letting it fly.

At age 36, he still bends opposing defenses unlike anyone else.

The Warriors became a competent group after Draymond Green’s second suspension, ranking fifth in net rating for the second half of the season (since January 15). Curry, who led the league with 357 three-pointers, is still the reason their halfcourt offense can create magic.

This was Curry’s sixth NBA season shooting 40% or better on at least 10 three-point attempts per game. He extended his record, with nobody else having more than one.

It’s true that Curry’s defensive intensity and execution weren’t as great this year as previous seasons (notably during the 2022 title run), but anyone who watched Golden State could see how much was on his plate.

His numbers dipped across the board, except when it became winning time. His 189 points in clutch-time scenarios led the NBA. Curry shot 32-of-70 from downtown in those moments, with the next player on the leaderboard only making 13 threes. But even better for Steve Kerr: Curry only had nine turnovers in the 143 minutes worth of clutch-time possessions.

What more is there to say about LeBron James after 21 years of being elite? It shouldn’t be humanly possible to be moving at this pace, scoring this efficiently, or defending at this level when you’re months away from a 40th birthday.

Although AD was slightly better this year overall, it’s often LeBron’s unparalleled passing acumen and scoring punch that gets the Lakers over the hump. His basketball IQ is always going to be worth a handful of wins throughout a season, and he generated more than 1,000 points off assists for the 16th time in his career.

James tied Brunson for sixth in EPM this season, behind only four of the All-NBA First Team guys and Joel Embiid, who wasn’t eligible.

This was the best shooting season of his career, proving that he can age like wine if he keeps enhancing certain attributes and evolving with the game. He shot 41% from three on 5.1 attempts per game, joining his teammate D’Angelo Russell as one of the only Lakers in history to combine that type of volume and efficiency.

Oh, and for those who think he’s getting too old ... there’s still not much defenders can do with him on the break. In transition, LeBron had a 72.4% effective field goal percentage, which ranked third in the league (min. 200 possessions) behind only the freight train Zion Willamson and pull-up sniper Kevin Durant.

Jaylen Brown over some of the other candidates might be a surprise, but shouldn’t be controversial. The other players considered for this final spot were Tyrese Haliburton, Rudy Gobert, and Paul George.

From the first year I started dissecting All-NBA Teams, I’ve always been a proponent of rewarding the best team in the league. If there’s one team lapping the field and rising up the all-time leaderboard in wins or point differential, chances are they deserve two All-NBA nods. It’s not always the case, but it often is.

Brown has played a significant role in making the Celtics a complete unit — one that hasn’t been stressed about seeding since February. Although his usage and scoring rate dipped this year, that was the sacrifice built into Boston’s theme and playstyle with this new core. It was a byproduct of them acquiring Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday last summer, in addition to Derrick White taking another step forward offensively. Everyone realized their shot volume would take a hit, but you never once heard a complaint.

During the second half of the season, Brown was arguably the Celtics’ most impactful player. His defensive tenacity jumped off the screen, inviting the challenge of guarding the opponents’ best player on a lot of possessions.

His shooting splits — 57% from two and 35% on threes — are right in line with last season, before he got the supermax contract and before the Celtics eclipsed 60 wins. His production earned him a Second Team nod last year, so it would be quite odd if he didn’t land on the Third Team this time around.

Boston finished +8.4 per 100 possessions in the lineups that featured Brown on the court and Tatum sitting.

Leaving off Paul George doesn’t feel great. The final spot came down to George, Haliburton, Domantas Sabonis, Zion Williamson, Rudy Gobert, and Victor Wembanyama.

I ultimately settled on Haliburton, but all of these players are separated by the thinnest of margins. It’s always going to be splitting hairs for the last spot, but this year makes it even tougher due to the positionless teams.

Haliburton does have a spectacular case and it was too strong to ignore. He created 28.4 points off his assists, the most since Russell Westbrook in 2021 and the second-most since the NBA started tracking the data in 2013. When you account for his individual scoring, he generated 48.5 points per game for Indiana.

The Pacers outperformed their expectation by several wins. That was the number one factor for me giving him the nod over George and Sabonis. I had Indiana at 40-42 heading into the year and they managed to win 47 games, avoiding the play-in tournament.

Plus, it’s not like the Pacers completely fell off after Haliburton experienced the hamstring injury. They were 21-15 when he got hurt on January 8th. Then, when he returned later that month, they proceeded to go 20-15 the rest of the way, without him missing any additional games.

Despite his shooting woes in the second half of the season, Haliburton still finished above 60% true shooting on more than 24% usage — while being the most prolific playmaker in the league. That combination, along with a playoff berth, warrants a spot here any season.

If the Clippers didn’t stray away from their path of destruction and finished first or second in the conference, I would’ve given them two All-NBA selections. But they didn’t. George was remarkable down the stretch and willed LA to a few tight victories, but the Pacers having the second-most explosive offense this season was a massive surprise. And it was because of their engine that deserves to be recognized.

Sabonis is a painful cut because of the tremendous offensive season he just had. The Kings’ center averaged 19.6 points and 8.3 assists per 36 minutes while shooting 61% from two and 38% from deep (only 87 threes attempted).

This was also the best defensive rebounding season of Sabonis’ career, capturing 32.3% of the available defensive boards for Sacramento.

Unfortunately, he might be a casualty of the positionless ballot and Sacramento failing to secure a top-six playoff spot. If we were forced to select a center on each team like previous years, he might win the last spot over Gobert. But it’s hard to justify putting him over some of the other star talents considering the Kings were just +0.8 per 100 possessions with him on the court and +4.0 when he sat on the bench.

Victor Wembanyama even being in the running is legitimately insane. If the Spurs could’ve finished closer to Houston’s 41-41 season and stayed alive for a late play-in push, he would be an automatic lock.

The argument for Wemby making it this year is that he was one of the most impactful players in the league for the second half of the season, blocking everything in sight and deterring opponents from the paint. But in a league that’s too deep and rich with talent, my approach has always been to reward the star players that have some form of team success attached to their cases.

Wemby will be here next year, and there’s no doubt about that.

Toughest cuts and honorable mentions: Paul George, Domantas Sabonis, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Paolo Banchero, De’Aaron Fox, and Tyrese Maxey.