The NBA All-Star game, a showcase of the league’s elite talent, always sparks debate about who deserves a spot on the roster. One of the most intriguing discussions this season centers around Damian Lillard, who was traded from our beloved Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks. Five other standout guards this year deserved a spot in the All-Star game – Tyrese Haliburton, Trae Young, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, and Jalen Brunson. Let’s see how Damian Lillard stacked against the five other guards to determine whether or not Dame’s 2024 performance was enough to earn him his All-Star spot.
Best Offensive Guard
As we remember, Damian Lillard’s calling card was his offense. Known for his logo threes and acrobatic finishes at the rim, Lillard always lit up the scoreboard. This year, he’s averaging 25.1 points per game, which aligns with his career average. The problem with that? Of the five other guards I mentioned, only Tyrese Haliburton averaged fewer points per game with him, but that’s primarily due to dishing out a league-leading 12.6 assists per game. As for his other stats, he’s only shooting 34.7% from three, which would be the third-lowest of his career. Check out Dame’s other offensive stats compared to the other five guards below:
| Stat | Total (Rank Among Guards) |
| PPG | 25.1 (5th) |
| FG% | 42.2% (6th) |
| 3PT% | 34.7% (5th) |
| eFG% | 50.7% (5th) |
| FT% | 92.4% (1st) |
| AST | 6.8 (3rd) |
| TO | 2.4 (T4) |
| OWS | 4.1 (3rd) |
There are only two spots in the starting lineup for guards, so I’ll provide who I think is the top two out of this group of six. Offensively speaking, Tyrese Haliburton is a shoo-in. He’s broken the record for most assists without a turnover, which was 40 assists. He also has a true shooting percentage of 63.2%, which only centers typically see that high number (due to them only shooting around the rim). My other choice would be Jalen Brunson. Thanks to his scoring, most pundits may put Trae Young here, but Trae turns the ball over almost twice as much while averaging practically the same amount of points. Brunson’s also got a better eFG% by 5% (50.4% compared to 55.3%).
Best Defensive Guard
Dame’s defense has always been a question throughout his career. While he was an offensive superstar, Dame struggled to guard opposing teams’ point guards, leading to the Blazers playing zones or hiding him on defensive sets. I agree that it’s hard to quantify defense without having a Master’s Degree in Advanced Statistics, and even then, those stats are flawed. However, you can piece together defensive numbers based on rebounding, steals, personal fouls, and defensive win shares. Let’s look at Dame’s below:
| Stat | Total (Rank Among Guards) |
| TRB | 4.3 (2nd) |
| STL | 1.1 (T4) |
| PF | 1.6 (2nd) |
| DWS | 1.0 (4th) |
As you can see, Dame is in the middle of the pack here. He’s doing a great job not fouling, averaging under two fouls per game, and getting more rebounds than most of his counterparts. However, two players play a better brand of defense than Lillard. Donovan Mitchell has emerged as one of the premier two-way point guards this year. His 2.1 defensive win shares rank best among this group, putting him up with other ball-stoppers such as Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s also tops in the steal category for this group and only behind SGA and Kawhi Leonard for tops in the league. Jalen Brunson has been no slouch on defense, gathering a 1.7 defensive win share. Brunson worked excellently next to Luka Doncic in Dallas, strictly because he could pick up the shifty point guards, while Luka settled down with the more oversized guard or forward on the team.
Stat-Nerds Best Guard
I don’t want to get too crazy with advanced stats here, but you all know that by reading one of my articles, I need to cover those. For Damian Lillard, his advanced metrics settle him down to 4th in this group of six guards. Perhaps the most interesting of these stats is how bad this point guard group is at defense. This shows how much more difficult it is to stay in front of players at the guard position compared to previous years and that teams rely on those big men down low to prevent shots. Check out the rest of Dame’s stats below:
| Stat | Total (Rank Among Guards) |
| OBPM | 3.7 (3rd) |
| DBPM | -1.4 (4th) |
| WS | 5.2 (4th) |
| USG% | 28.2 (4th) |
| PER | 20.5 (5th) |
I’ll briefly explain if you need to become more familiar with OBPM or DBPM. The “BPM” is Box Plus-Minus, and the “O” and “D” are offensive and defensive. Dame’s 3.7 OBPM means that the Bucks have a 3.7 plus-minus while he’s on the court. For reference, Tyrese Haliburton has the best plus-minus of any Eastern Conference player at 9.5. That’s one of the reasons why Haliburton again deserves that guard spot in the All-Star Game. Haliburton also posts a 26.2 PER, which would be third-best in the East behind Joel Embiid and Giannis. My second pick here? Jalen Brunson. His overall win shares is more than two more than Donovan Mitchell (who was a close third for me). This means that Jalen Brunson has more of an impact on winning games than Donovan Mitchell does. This theory will be tested heavily now that Julius Randle is out for a few weeks. In terms of PER, both Mitchell and Brunson are within one of each other, so I’ll have to give Brunson more credit for being a bigger force.
Who Should Have Made It?
Should Damian Lillard be an All-Star starter? No, he shouldn’t. Out of the stats I’ve given, it’s clear that Dame slots in about 4th or 5th, depending on how you feel about Trae Young. I think the two All-Star starting guard spots should be Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson. Haliburton is a no-brainer, being the assists leader and practically committing no turnovers. We haven’t seen this level of passing ability since John Stockton in the 90s, and that’s no exaggeration. Haliburton is averaging the most assists per game since the early 90s when Stockton was dishing out passes to Malone. What makes Haliburton more special? He hasn’t had a Malone to pass to (although Siakim joining the team will help a bit). As for my second pick, Brunson, it’s clear he’s earning the contract he signed over the offseason. I’ll admit that I did not think Brunson would be at this level, but he is a crucial part of the Knicks’ success this year. His overall win shares at 6.6 would be the difference between a three seed and a nine seed, which will be crucial to getting home-court advantage in the playoffs. The atmosphere of Madison Square Garden during playoffs is unmatched and will give them an advantage against whoever they play. Dame’s integration with Giannis has hampered his numbers, but he’s still at a top level. He’s not worthy of that second starting spot in February’s All-Star Game.
