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It's that special time of the year where every few weeks we are shown how highly regarded our players are. You need a star to win in this league, and according to the fan votes, once again we are bereft of one. The NBA All-Star Game ballot returns came in after the first deluge of votes for the 2014 Game (to be held in New Orleans in February 16th, 2014). And this is what they look like:
| Eastern Conference Voting | Western Conference Voting | |||||||
| Frontcourt | Frontcourt | |||||||
| Player | Team | Votes | Player | Team | Votes | |||
| 1 | LeBron James | Heat | 609,336 | 1 | Kevin Durant | Thunder | 607,407 | |
| 2 | Paul George | Pacers | 489,335 | 2 | Dwight Howard | Rockets | 295,120 | |
| 3 | Carmelo Anthony | Knicks | 424,211 | 3 | Blake Griffin | Clippers | 292,925 | |
| 4 | Roy Hibbert | Pacers | 208,369 | 4 | Kevin Love | Timberwolves | 275,506 | |
| 5 | Chris Bosh | Heat | 156,364 | 5 | Tim Duncan | Spurs | 217,271 | |
| 6 | Kevin Garnett | Nets | 102,825 | 6 | Anthony Davis | Pelicans | 149,579 | |
| 7 | Joakim Noah | Bulls | 75,229 | 7 | Pau Gasol | Lakers | 133,199 | |
| 8 | Jeff Green | Celtics | 55,912 | 8 | LaMarcus Aldridge | Trail Blazers | 132,818 | |
| 9 | Luol Deng | Bulls | 53,340 | 9 | Andre Iguodala | Warriors | 109,745 | |
| 10 | Tyson Chandler | Knicks | 51,738 | 10 | Dirk Nowitzki | Mavericks | 89,093 | |
| 11 | Andre Drummond | Pistons | 51,351 | 11 | Chandler Parsons | Rockets | 77,179 | |
| 12 | Carlos Boozer | Bulls | 48,745 | 12 | DeMarcus Cousins | Kings | 60,923 | |
| 13 | Paul Pierce | Nets | 45,145 | 13 | David Lee | Warriors | 60,015 | |
| 14 | Brook Lopez | Nets | 37,153 | 14 | Kawhi Leonard | Spurs | 55,023 | |
| 15 | Josh Smith | Pistons | 32,025 | 15 | Omer Asik | Rockets | 53,827 | |
| Backcourt | Backcourt | |||||||
| Player | Team | Votes | Player | Team | Votes | |||
| 1 | Dwyane Wade | Heat | 396,279 | 1 | Kobe Bryant | Lakers | 501,215 | |
| 2 | Kyrie Irving | Cavaliers | 365,712 | 2 | Chris Paul | Clippers | 393,313 | |
| 3 | Derrick Rose | Bulls | 272,410 | 3 | Stephen Curry | Warriors | 327,499 | |
| 4 | John Wall | Wizards | 124,851 | 4 | Jeremy Lin | Rockets | 240,404 | |
| 5 | Ray Allen | Heat | 99,464 | 5 | James Harden | Rockets | 198,667 | |
| 6 | Rajon Rondo | Celtics | 80,889 | 6 | Russell Westbrook | Thunder | 149,065 | |
| 7 | Deron Williams | Nets | 44,282 | 7 | Tony Parker | Spurs | 112,423 | |
| 8 | George Hill | Pacers | 42,536 | 8 | Ricky Rubio | Timberwolves | 63,096 | |
| 9 | Evan Turner | 76ers | 33,605 | 9 | Steve Nash | Lakers | 60,782 | |
| 10 | Mario Chalmers | Heat | 32,996 | 10 | Damian Lillard | Trail Blazers | 55,847 | |
I am interested to see what the full voting turns out like. I need it deep in my soul to know if Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Trey Burke or others are even ranked higher than people like Tyreke Evans or Tiago Splitter. So in the mean time, let the overt tank continue, 'cause we're not signing one of these guys as a free agent next year, nor are we going to trade for one. Our only option / hope is through the draft. And kudos to Dennis Lindsey for doing exactly what he needed to do in order to maximize our fortunes in the lottery.