Trending Topics: Picking 2025 East All-Star starters

• Get NBA League Pass TODAY
• NBA All-Star 2025: Complete coverage
• NBA All-Star Voting is now open!

Periodically, NBA.com’s writers will weigh in on key storylines or trending topics around the league.

The format for the All-Star Game has changed, but the voting process remains the same. Who are your starters from the Eastern Conference?

(He are our West picks.)

Backcourt

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Frontcourt

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
• Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

Unlike the All-NBA teams and ballots for the league’s annual awards, the All-Star Game is for the fans. So I tend to yield to fan voting — with occasional exceptions. Such as the East backcourt, where LaMelo Ball ranked first in the initial returns. Nope, sorry, no way. The best two guards in the East, individually and in leading their teams, have been Mitchell and Brunson and they’ve earned this honor.

Towns slips easily into what had become the Joel Embiid spot on the front line. He has shown on the floor and off a new level of maturity. Antetokounmpo and Tatum are returnees from my starter picks last year, but again, it’s not so much me as the fans’ wishes. They just happen to be getting those two right again.

— Steve Aschburner

Backcourt

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Frontcourt

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
• Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

The frontcourt picks were locks. Antetokounmpo leads the league in scoring while shooting over 60%. Tatum is having his second-highest scoring season while posting career-best marks in rebounds and assists. Towns has been a perfect fit, lifting the Knicks’ offense to new heights and leading the NBA in rebounds per game.

Mitchell was an easy backcourt pick to represent the league-leading Cavs. My final guard spot went to Brunson over candidates like Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Tyrese Maxey and Cade Cunningham.

That makes the third-place Knicks the only East team with two starters. This came down to the positions of the top teams’ top two candidates — Cleveland’s Mitchell and Darius Garland are both guards, Boston’s Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both forwards, while New York’s Brunson and Towns are split.

— Brian Martin

Backcourt

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Frontcourt

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
• Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

These picks were pretty straightforward. There are other guards with more prolific boxscore numbers than Mitchell, but his numbers aren’t what they could be because his team has been so good. In the backcourt, Tyler Herro and Trae Young should remain in consideration when it comes time to make the real picks, especially if their teams can remain/get over .500 and into the top six in the East.

The same goes for frontcourt candidate Evan Mobley, who doesn’t have the box score numbers but is a two-way star who’s been critical to the success of the best team in the league.

— John Schuhmann

Backcourt

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Frontcourt

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
• Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

Salute to Mitchell, who’s having a solid season and is the leader of the most impressive team (so far) in the East. Brunson is again doing work for the Knicks, yet the guard position isn’t as top-heavy talent-wise compared to the West.

The frontcourt is stuffed with Kia MVP contenders. In terms of intrigue, Towns stands out only because he shifted from West to East via the Minnesota trade, and he seems more at home with another shift, from forward in Minny to center in New York.

— Shaun Powell