Cleveland Cavaliers

Who made the 2017 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:31 p.m. ET

Fansided, Ian Levy/Fansided

The NBA All-Star reserves were announced, rounding out the full All-Star rosters. Here’s who will be playing for the Eastern Conference.

The announcement of the Eastern Conference starters was not without controversy, with Joel Embiid’s power position in the fan voting being undone by media and player votes, along with Kyrie Irving and DeMar DeRozan sliding ahead of Kyle Lowry, who has been arguably better than any other guard in the East this season. Lowry was given his spot with the announcement of the reserves, but unfortunately Embiid was left off this season.

Guard: Kyrie Irving – Cleveland Cavaliers

Guard: DeMar DeRozan – Toronto Raptors

Frontcourt: Jimmy Butler – Chicago Bulls

Frontcourt: LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

Frontcourt: Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks

Reserve: Kyle Lowry – Toronto Raptors

Reserve: Isaiah Thomas – Boston Celtics

Reserve: John Wall – Washington Wizards

Reserve: Kemba Walker – Charlotte Hornets

Reserve: – Indiana Pacers

Reserve: Paul Millsap – Atlanta Hawks

Reserve: Kevin Love – Cleveland Cavaliers

The most interesting thing about the block of reserves added to the roster is that the group includes four point guards — Lowry, Wall, Walker, and Thomas. If you include Irving with the starters, along with James and Antetokounmpo, seven of the 12 players on the All-Star roster could be classified as primary ball-handlers.

Connected to that emphasis on ball-handling, the Eastern Conference team doesn’t include a single traditional center. Although assigning a position to James or Antetokounmpo can be tricky, neither really spends much time defending interior players. Considering that the Western Conference roster includes DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan and Marc Gasol, Millsap and Love are going to have their work cut out for them.

While we’re sorry that we won’t get to see Embiid put his stamp on the All-Star game, at least for now, this is an exciting roster that should provide plenty of open-court highlight fodder once the game actually starts.