All-NBA ballots went out today. The fight for roster spots will be an absolute bloodbath, especially at the guard positions. How are voters supposed to choose only six guards? It’s possible that Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, DeMar DeRozan, or Chris Paul may be left off.
The competition at forward and center, however, will also be stiff. One player in the mix at both positions is San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge has stepped up his game this season with Kawhi Leonard on the bench with a quadriceps injury.
Aldridge is averaging 23.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 33.4 minutes per game. The depleted Spurs have somehow still won 45 games — though their streak of 50-win seasons has officially come to an end at 18.
Balloting Error
Aldridge has played the majority of his minutes at center. However, as The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor noted, he was only listed at forward on All-NBA ballots. Oddly, Anthony Davis was listed at both forward and center.
The NBA distributed ballots to award voters this morning. For All-NBA, Anthony Davis is listed at both center and forward. But LaMarcus Aldridge is listed only as a forward. Interesting decision. Aldridge has played 60% of his minutes at center to 48% for Davis, per @bball_ref.
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 4, 2018
O’Connor later added that the NBA quickly acknowledged it had made a mistake and fixed it.
The NBA updated the ballot and put LaMarcus Aldridge at center. I was told he should’ve been there, and he is now—many bigs are listed at both center and forward. Good choice by the league. Ballots went out only 90 minutes ago. https://t.co/MGA1sujiWX
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 4, 2018
Good on K.O.C., one of the best emerging NBA writers on the internet, for catching this. If the season were to end today, Aldridge and San Antonio would play the upstart Utah Jazz. However, the Western Conference seeds are far from established, and a lot could change in the next week and a half.
