The NBA has All-Star talent on almost every team. Each year, one of the biggest spectacles in all sports is NBA All-Star Weekend. The main event of the said weekend is, of course, the NBA All-Star Game. A game that features the best NBA players of the current season going head to head against each other. It truly is an amazing event. Sadly, there are always snubs.
Players who should have been All-Stars but did not quite make the cut for whatever reason. Some of these players I like to dub “fringe,” All-Stars. These could be players who have not made it due to them being in a more competitive conference, their play-style isn’t as flashy but still have the numbers, or they are already playing with a couple of All-Stars. Here are three of the top fringe All-Stars currently playing in the NBA.
Three Players on the Cusp of Being an All-Star
Fringe All-Star #1: Tobias Harris
Tobias Harris may just be the poster boy for fringe All-Stars. He has solid numbers but is always overshadowed by Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons up until this year. Not to mention, he is victim to playing a position overloaded with superstar talent, the small forward. As a result, he is always competing with guys such as Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George for a spot in the All-Star Game. Harris is far from a role player as he makes up the third option of Philadelphia’s “big three,” when they are all playing on the floor. For the season, he is averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 total rebounds per game, and is shooting 47.6 percent from the field as the 76ers’ second option while the Ben Simmons drama continues.
Fringe All-Star #2: Tyler Herro
Tyler Herro is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate this season and for good reason. He is a big reason the Miami Heat are considered a favorite in the Eastern Conference and is having a great bounce-back season. Herro is tallying 21.6 points, 5.5 total rebounds per game, and is shooting 45.0 percent from the field to go along with a three-point shooting percentage of 40.3 percent.
A massive improvement from last year where his averages were 15.1 points, 5.0 rebounds per game, 43.9 percent shooting from the field, and 36.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc. This season could see the Heat sixth man getting both his first Sixth Man of the Year award and his first All-Star Game selection. Tyler Herro is a deadly marksman which gives Miami another needed dimension to their second unit, especially if Duncan Robinson is struggling to find his rhythm from three-point land.
Fringe All-Star #3: Montrezl Harrell
Coach Wes Unseld Jr. has turned Montrezl Harrell into not just a fringe All-Star, but a legitimate All-Star candidate for this season. At the start of the year, Harrell was even in the top five of the MVP ladder. Obviously, things have changed since then, but the Wizards’ power forward continues to impact the game in a positive way.
He is a big reason Washington is a top-five seed in the East at the time of this article being written. Harrell seems to have rejuvenated himself as he is averaging numbers of 16.2 points, 8.1 total rebounds per game, and is shooting 65.4 percent from the field. The former Sixth Man of the Year is getting good quality looks and is helping the Wizards continue to be one of the surprises of this season.
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