Anthony Edwards is seen as the best player on the Minnesota Timberwolves, and deservedly so. At just 24 years old, he could continue to be a perennial All-Star for around the next decade.
While Edwards is the consensus top player on the team, Minnesota rostered others who are also having excellent seasons. Both Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert have played well enough to at least be in All-Star consideration. When giving his All-Star rosters though, Tim Bontemps of ESPN didn’t even mention either in passing as a candidate.
Randle and Gobert not even written about
With All-Star fan voting concluding on Wednesday night, Tim Bontemps of ESPN named his All-Star rosters on Wednesday. The All-Star starters will be announced next Monday, while the reserves will be named on February 1.
It should not be any surprise that Bontemps lists Edwards as a starter for the Western Conference. With the Timberwolves owning a 27-14 record that is fourth-best in the West and just a game behind second place, it wouldn’t be out of line to put two Minnesota players on the All-Star team.
If you don’t think Randle or Gobert should make it, that’s fine. But to not even mention them?
In all, Bontemps names 15 players from the Western Conference, 12 of whom get on the team (also added a 13th since the Americans needed one more selection). Five players were listed on Bontemps’ bubble watch in the Western Conference.
Two of those guys are from the Lakers. Austin Reaves and LeBron James have only played 23 and 21 games, respectively, out of the team’s 38 thus far. Bontemps doesn’t put either on the team, but the two Wolves players not mentioned surely have been much more available.
Wolves fans might not expect Randle or Gobert to make the All-Star team, but the hope is they'll at least be considered.
Both Randle and Gobert have played at an All-Star level
The Timberwolves are exactly at the halfway point of the season: 41 games down, 41 to go. Randle and Gobert have combined to miss just one game, and that came on Tuesday when Gobert was suspended a game for accumulating too many flagrant foul points.
On the year, Randle is posting averages of 22.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists while falling just shy of making half his field goal tries. The 31-year-old has recorded two triple-doubles and looks much more comfortable in Year 2 with the franchise.
Now in his fifth year with Minnesota, Gobert is averaging 11.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. The 33-year-old leads the league in field goal percentage and is only behind Nikola Jokic in rebounds per game. The Stifle Tower is still one of the game’s top defenders and is eying his fifth Defensive Player of the Year award.
There are a lot of outstanding players out West. Randle and Gobert still should be seen as strong All-Star candidates, even if they don’t end up making the squad.