The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is still a little less than three months away, but there are already a handful of young players making the case that they deserve to be named to the game for the first time in their careers.
The upcoming All-Star Game will be a little different with a USA vs. the world format that still includes 12 players from the Eastern Conference and 12 players from the West. The world team will feature eight players, and the American players will be broken up into two teams of eight, with Adam Silver hand-picking players to solve any roster issues after voting is conducted. If you think that sounds confusing, you’re not wrong.
Arcane roster issues are boring, but young basketball players leveling up is super cool. Only one of these players is older than 24 years old right now, and all of them have shown fantastic improvement since last season. Here are six players trending as first-time NBA All-Stars for the 2026 game in the Clippers’ Intuit Dome.
Chet Holmgren, C, Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the reigning NBA champions, and it feels like they’re even better this year. OKC is on-pace to smash the all-time wins record early in the season even before All-NBA wing Jalen Williams plays a game, and Chet Holmgren’s leap is a big reason why. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Holmgren is fully blossoming into the unicorn big the Thunder dreamed of. He’s scoring at the highest volume of his career on the best efficiency of his career with 31.4 points per 100 possessions (up from 26.2 last year) on outstanding 68.1 percent true shooting (up from 59.9 percent last year). Holmgren is shooting well from three at about 36 percent, and he’s a lynchpin in the league’s No. 1 defense.
There should be no doubt at this point that Holmgren has become one of the best big men in the NBA. It might have happened last year if he didn’t suffer a pelvic fracture. Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are the only two centers I’d take over him right now. He’s a slam dunk for the All-Star team, and he’ll be after much greater team glory the rest of the season. I called for a 70-win Thunder season and wrote that I wouldn’t be surprised if Holmgren earned an All-NBA nod coming into the year. It’s early, but those of those are on track to happen so far.
Jalen Duren, C, Detroit Pistons
I had Duren as a top-five prospect in the 2022 draft coming out of Memphis, and thought he was a huge steal for Detroit at No. 13 overall. Now in his fourth season, the 22-year-old big man has exploded as a scorer by finding a new level of comfort attack off the dribble and draining floater-range and mid-range shots. Duren is looking like a young Dwight Howard at times with his complete domination on a per-possession basis this season, putting up 34 points and 19.7 rebounds per 100 possessions (up from 21.7 points per 100 last year) on hyper-efficient 72 percent true shooting. He doesn’t shoot threes, but Duren can knock down shots from 18-feet in, and he’s an excellent vertical spacer who can slam home alley-oops. The biggest revelation in his game has been his ball handling, which allows him to take slower centers off the dribble and beat them to the basket. His defense hasn’t been quite as good as I thought it would be coming of college, but instead he’s become one of the game’s best offensive centers with an elite combination of strength, length, and leaping plus his improving skill as a driver. The Pistons now have a stud center to go with their stud point guard Cade Cunningham, plus arguably the most depth in the Eastern Conference, which includes several other young players with upside left to tap. My old Pistons optimism from 2022 looked really bad a couple years ago when they only won 14 games, but they took a big jump into the playoffs last season and they’re taking an even bigger jump into contender status this year. Duren’s improvement has been a driving factor, and he’s still realizing how good he can become.
Josh Giddey, G, Chicago Bulls
Giddey looked like a different player after the Bulls traded Zach LaVine at the deadline in February, and he’s picked up where he left off to start the new season. Giddey is finally weaponizing his size as one of the league’s biggest point guards at 6’8, overpowering smaller guards on his drives to the rim and figuring out consistent ways to get to the free throw line. His scoring has spiked on a per possession basis — a career-best 28 points per 100 possessions, up from 22.5 last year — but that’s not his only area of improvement. Always a gifted facilitator and a dependable defensive rebounder, Giddey is putting up career-best numbers in assists and rebounds per 100 possessions as well. The big question going forward is whether his three-point stroke can sustain. Entering the week, Giddey is hitting 38.6 percent of his threes. His volume remains low at about 5.5 attempts per 100 possessions. but just hitting the open ones is so important to stop defenses from sitting on his drives and clogging the paint on his teammates. He’s done all of this without the help of Coby White, who is just now joining the rotation. The Bulls sure seem like they’re cooling off after their hot start, but the schedule is getting easier and White just about fully healthy. If Giddey keeps this up, the Bulls should at least be feisty all season.
Austin Reaves, G, Los Angeles Lakers
Reaves is putting up a contract-year for the ages with the Lakers, and it’s wild to consider that he’s doing it despite a cold start shooting from behind the three-point line. The 27-year-old guard is becoming one of the league’s most scintillating creators off the dribble, blending high-volume scoring and playmaking with stunning efficiency while playing off Luka Doncic. Reaves enters the week as the NBA’s 11th leading scorer, and his per-possession numbers — 37.4 points per 100 possessions, up from 28.5 last year — are blowing his previous bests out of the water. He’s one of basketball’s most efficient high-volume scorers with sparkling 65 percent true shooting, and it’s mostly happened because he’s been unstoppable at getting to the free throw line. Reaves is still only shooting 32 percent from three, and he’s usually about five points better than that, so just imagine if his shot starts falling. His playmaking is also soaring, going from a 25 percent assist rate last year to a 33 percent assist rate so far this year. Reaves is legitimately turning into one of the best guards and top American players right now. With LeBron James finally back in the lineup, the Lakers really might be dangerous this season, and Reaves’ improvement is a major reason why.
Deni Avdija, F, Portland Trail Blazers
Avdija quietly emerged as the Trail Blazers’ best player last season after being traded from Washington, but he’s taken an even bigger leap so far this year that is impossible to ignore. The 6’9 forward is scoring 35.2 points per 100 possessions (up from 27.4 last year) as a battering ram driving to the rim with increased ability to draw free throws. Avdija has also leveled up as a shooter, nearly doubling his volume from two years ago while knocking down 37 percent of his threes. His rebounding and playmaking have been as dependable as ever, but it feels like his defense is starting to slip as he takes on a bigger offensive load. That’s understandable: the Blazers play at the NBA’s second-fastest pace right now, and Avdija is a freight train leading the attack. With two more years under contract at about $12 million per season, Avdija is also the NBA’s biggest bargain on the cap sheet. The Blazers look like a play-in team in the West, but they finally have a legit All-Star worth building around.
Jalen Johnson, F, Atlanta Hawks
Johnson could have been a first-time All-Star last year if not for a shoulder tear that ended his season after 36 games. He’s been even better this season, growing into the ideal modern power forward and perhaps the Hawks’ best player. Johnson is one of the league’s best transition scorers as a 6’9 wing who combines power, grace, and explosiveness in the open floor. He uses the threat of his downhill scoring to dime up teammates as a playmaker, currently ranking the 99th percentile of potential assists, and he’s a big plus on the glass. Johnson’s three-point shot has always been a little shaky, but he’s been making 40 percent on low volume so far this season. He’s also a plus defensively by forcing turnovers and getting stops one-on-one. The Hawks have actually been better with Johnson off the floor this year which is something to monitor (his minutes with Trae Young are the root of the problem), but I’m not worried yet. Johnson uses his physicality to run into easy buckets for himself and his teammates while being responsible for a lot of the defensive plays that gets his team going. Every team in the league would love to have a power forward like this.
