Bulls' Butler out 3-4 weeks, who should replace him in All-Star Game?
Chicago's Jimmy Butler will reportedly miss three to four weeks with a strained left knee. He's already started rehab and will miss the All-Star Game on Sunday in Toronto. Who should replace the star shooting guard?
.@chicagobulls announce @JimmyButler will be out 3-4 weeks (knee)
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) February 9, 2016
STORY: https://t.co/3Fx7srCBwW pic.twitter.com/2VMbgwGYJo
Butler, who was selected as a reserve for the Eastern Conference, suffered the injury against the Nuggets in Denver on Friday night. He's impressed for the Bulls this season, averaging a career-high 22.4 points per game. He adds 5.2 rebounds per game with 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
The choice to replace an injured reserve in an All-Star game is left to the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver. Without Butler, here are our top candidates to replace him for the Eastern Conference in the 2016 All-Star Game.
1. Pau Gasol - Chicago Bulls
This seems like the most logical choice, for many reasons. Gasol just narrowly missed getting voted in as an All-Star starter -- he was only 360 votes shy of New York's Carmelo Anthony in the frontcourt. Gasol is Butler's teammate in Chicago, so he'd be able to represent the Bulls in the All-Star Game in Butler's unexpected absence. He averages 17.0 points per game with 10.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
2. Kemba Walker - Charlotte Hornets
What has Kemba Walker done for the NBA lately? He's averaging a career-high 20.4 points per game, including a franchise-record 52-point game last month. He also adds value with 1.8 steals and 5.1 assists per game. He's astronomically improved his field goal percentage, shooting .421% this season after a .385% rate last year. Walker is landing a career-high 1.9 three's per game as well.
3. Kyrie Irving - Cleveland Cavaliers
Based off voting, fans obviously want to see Irving in the NBA All-Star Game this season. Despite playing in just 25 of Cleveland's 51 games this year, the star point guard finished third in Eastern Conference voting among guards. Only Miami's Dwyane Wade and Toronto's Kyle Lowry earned more votes. While his stats are a bit lower than usual this year, that's mostly due to a lack of minutes -- he's playing just 29.6 per game this year, compared with 36.4 last season. Plus, he'd provide Cleveland (the best team in the Eastern Conference) with a second player on the All-Star roster and he's impressed more than teammate Kevin Love.
4. Nic Batum - Charlotte Hornets
For basketball reasons, Batum is an excellent candidate to replace Butler. He has offered a multidimensional skillset to Charlotte during his first season with the Hornets. He's averaging a career-high 15.0 PPG; last year in Portland he averaged just 9.4 PPG. Batum also adds 6.5 rebounds with a career-high 6.5 assists per game this season. He sinks two 3's per game and provides a very valuable presence on defense with 0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.
Honorable Mentions: Reggie Jackson (Detroit), Kristaps Porzingis (New York), Paul Millsap (Atlanta), Al Horford (Atlanta), Brook Lopez (Brooklyn)
Bryan Kalbrosky produces digital content for FOXSports.com. For more, follow him on Twitter @BryanKalbrosky.
