Chapter 418 All-Star Lineup

As in the past, the All-Star substitutes were selected by the coaches from the East and West.

In the East, the 7 substitutes were: Walker, Beal, Oladipo, LaVine, DeRozan, Love, and Drummond.

In the West, the 7 substitutes were: Westbrook, Lillard, George, Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Jokic, and Towns.

During the TNT live broadcast, Durant and Antetokounmpo appeared to pick their teams.

This was a rare opportunity for Durant to appear on a live show.

The All-Star selection was highly anticipated.

However, it was also this live broadcast that subverted many fans' impressions of Durant.

They were used to seeing Durant's subtle jabs on social media, and assumed he was just like any other keyboard warrior, being sneaky in real life as well.

But in the live broadcast, Durant's temperament was surprisingly sunny, and he had a smile on his face the whole time, which surprised many people.

If Tang Tian knew what these people were thinking, he would definitely say they were too young.

Durant is a very simple person. Although he likes to subtly criticize people, he is happy when he is happy and unhappy when he is unhappy.

Now that he was doing so well with the Pelicans, he naturally smiled brightly on the live show.

Smiling guys have good luck, and Durant won the coin toss, giving him the first pick.

Fans were curious if he would pick James like he used to, but Durant's answer was a bit surprising.

He picked Curry.

It seemed that even though he had left the Warriors, he still chose the person he admired so much.

This was in line with his personality.

Antetokounmpo picked James.

Durant then picked Davis.

After alternating picks, the starting lineups for the two teams gradually took shape.

Team Durant: Durant, Curry, Davis, Irving, Tatum.

Team Antetokounmpo: Antetokounmpo, James, Harden, Griffin, Lowry.

Without Tang Tian as that bug, this starting lineup was relatively balanced for the East and West.

The two then successively selected the substitutes, with Antetokounmpo picking first.

Team Durant: Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, Jokic, LaVine, DeRozan, Walker, Love.

Team Antetokounmpo: Leonard, George, Lillard, Drummond, Towns, Oladipo, Beal.

As for the substitutes, Durant was willful again. In terms of overall strength, Team Antetokounmpo was clearly more advantageous.

With the starters evenly matched and the East having the advantage in substitutes, fans were curious if this year's All-Star Game would see the suppressed East stage a comeback.

The All-Star lineups and individual competition lists were announced one after another.

Fans were looking forward to this year's All-Star Weekend.

But like last year, in addition to looking forward to the main game, they were now more concerned about the upcoming trade deadline.

This year's trade market was very lively.

With more than half of the season played, many teams in the West had begun to fall behind after a fierce battle.

The top eight teams in the West were now the Spurs, Lakers, Pelicans, Mavericks, Rockets, Clippers, Warriors, and Suns.

The remaining Jazz, Kings, Nuggets, and Trail Blazers had fallen out of the first tier after fierce competition.

Strengthening their teams by the trade deadline was their only way to continue to compete for the playoffs.

The same was true in the East, especially with the Raptors being the most eager to make a trade.

They had been stuck in mediocrity for so many years, and after James left, they were faced with Antetokounmpo.

It wouldn't even be surprising if they eventually chose to rebuild.

Various rumors were also emerging endlessly.

The Raptors were interested in the Wizards' Beal, hoping to use DeRozan as a bargaining chip;

The Nuggets were also interested in Beal, and they had many talented players as bargaining chips, making them very aggressive;

The Trail Blazers were interested in the Cavaliers' Love, who had averaged 19+8 this season and had a second spring;

The Jazz were looking to trade for a more competitive forward, and they had a very strong interest in the Pacers' Bogdanovic;

The Kings were trying to trade for the Timberwolves' Wiggins, and rumors said their offer was very aggressive;

……

Rumors were endless, and the Pelicans were no exception.

Dempsey knew that Tang Tian's focus was now on his family and movies, and he usually didn't bother him much, but this time he had to come.

The Pelicans were doing well and the team's chemistry was slowly developing, so they wouldn't actively seek a trade.

Especially after Tang Tian suggested that Stevens change the starting lineup, Siakam had already started.

However, just because they weren't actively seeking a trade didn't mean that a trade wouldn't come to them.

Dempsey had brought several trade proposals with him.

Next summer would be a big test for the Pelicans, when Brogdon and Siakam's rookie contracts would expire, and Gasol's contract would also expire.

A three-choose-one situation could easily put them in trouble.

Tang Tian also knew that it was difficult to make a decision now.

Among the trade proposals that Dempsey brought, the ones related to Siakam were the most numerous.

This was also reasonable.

In terms of ceiling, Brogdon wasn't very high as an older rookie, and his current performance with the Pelicans was basically his ceiling.

In other words, a contract of 20 million+ would be his next, and possibly his last, big contract.

Gasol was an old player, and he would be very popular when his contract expired, but with a current annual salary of 20 million+, contending teams couldn't afford him, and rebuilding teams didn't want him.

So, with a comparison and considering the Pelicans' situation, Siakam, who had talent and ceiling, would inevitably be popular.

The offers from these teams were not low either.

It was important to know that trading for Siakam now wasn't just for an expiring contract, but also included his restricted clause.

In other words, as long as they could trade for Siakam, they could keep Siakam.

Tang Tian screened the trade proposals and kept a few that he found attractive.

The Raptors wanted to use DeRozan to trade for Siakam + Gasol + a trade exception.

DeRozan was suffering from depression, especially after being a runner-up with the Raptors for so many years, and his performance had declined slightly this season.

The Raptors definitely wanted to trade him away.

The Pelicans' backcourt strength was average, and DeRozan mainly played the shooting guard position. His arrival would allow Durant to return to the small forward position.

Tang Tian and Dempsey exchanged ideas for a while, and after thinking it over, he gave up.

DeRozan's immediate combat power was definitely stronger than Siakam's, but he couldn't shoot three-pointers, which would easily be targeted in the West.

So, if they really made it to the playoffs, it was unknown how much strength he could display as the third option.

And in addition to offense, his defense wasn't outstanding either.

In addition to trading Gasol away, they also had to consider how to bring in a center to fill the void.

Not to mention that DeRozan's contract was very large, and such a trade would mean that they would definitely have to give up Brogdon next year.

The Raptors' proposal didn't attract Tang Tian's interest, but another proposal made him hesitate, because that proposal was made by the Mavericks.