Deserve is often a meaningless word.
You can deserve something and not get it; in fact, that happens all of the time. The world is not an inherently "fair" place, both to our gain and our loss. Many of us deserve negative consequences that never come, while others "deserve" something great but never receive it.
That will probably be the case this season when it comes to the NBA All-Star Game. There are only 12 slots in the Eastern Conference, and a lot of star power to start claiming those spots. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been incredible to start the season, standing atop the league at 21-3, and they have three players who all deserve an All-Star selection this year.
Donovan Mitchell is the star of the team, even if his numbers have taken a step back this season. He is playing fewer minutes and shooting less efficiently than last season from inside the arc. From beyond the arc, however, he remains his prolific self, and he has exploded in a handful of fourth quarters. He's the best player on the best team, so he seems like a lock to make the All-Star Team -- and likely to even start in the Eastern Conference.
His partner in the backcourt, Darius Garland, is having a career year. His shooting accuracy is off the charts, he is passing the ball with aplomb and overall looks more confident on the basketball court. He leads the entire league in free-throw percentage, is blowing away his career-best in 3-point accuracy, and when he is on the court the Cavaliers have a 124.5 offensive rating, in the 96th-percentile leaguewide per Cleaning the Glass.
Finally, the Cavaliers' true breakout star this season has been Evan Mobley; it's easy enough to argue that he has been the team's best overall player, and he is a Top-5 defender in the entire league. This season new coach Kenny Atkinson has put the ball in his hands more and he has thrived. In his most recent game against the Charlotte Hornets, Mobley dropped a career-high 41 points and six 3-pointers.
Which of the three most deserves an All-Star berth? It's a difficult question to answer, even if "deserve" can easily be applied to all three. Yet to know for sure, the Cavaliers' three stars need to be measured against the rest of the candidates in the Eastern Conference.
ESPN's Kevin Pelton did just that this past week, picking his 24-player All-Star rosters based on merit this season. In doing so, he picked just two Cavaliers players - a reasonable decision, but one that immediately deserves scrutiny. Did he make the right decision?
The player that Pelton "snubs" is Darius Garland, selecting Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley to make the All-Star Game and Garland to miss out. The term "snub" is tossed around a bit too freely, but the fact is that Pelton didn't even include Garland in his honorable mentions. The term is appropriate here!
These decisions are difficult to make, but compared to the rest of the Eastern Conference backcourt options, Garland deserved a spot. Other honorable mentions like LaMelo Ball and Trae Young are having extremely inefficient seasons, so while they put up numbers due to sheer volume and Young deserves extra credit for his passing, they are rightfully honorable mentions.
The player who makes Pelton's team over Garland that should be swapped out, however, is clearly Tyrese Maxey. The Philadelphia 76ers guard does average more pure points than Garland, but he does so shooting just 40 percent from the field and 29.7 percent from 3-point range. Garland, on the other hand, is shooting 48.8 percent and 42.7 percent, respectively.
When asked to carry the offense in Philadelphia in the absence of Paul George and Joel Embiid, Maxey caved, and he has been a contributing factor to their truly abysmal start to the season. To make the All-Star Game on a team as bad as Philly -- just 6-15 on the season now -- you have to be truly exceptional. Maxey has certainly not been that.
Maxey should not have made the list, and because of his efficiency and contributions to elite offense Garland should have been placed above him. It's a high bar for a team to have three All-Stars (although the Boston Celtics do in Pelton's list) but the Cleveland Cavaliers are clearing it, and have three stars worthy of such recognition.
If one player does miss out, however, Pelton's exercise sheds some light that it could be Garland left out in the cold.