Five NBA execs forget Avery Bradley exists when talking possible first-time All-Stars in weak East

Earlier this week there was a Bleacher Report article discussing possible 2017-18 All-Stars in the suddenly putrid Eastern Conference. Putrid, I admit, is my word, but it’s not entirely inaccurate. With the loss of Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Paul Millsap to the West, the East All-Star squad has some spots to fill and, long story short, certain NBA scouts must have taken crazy pills while they were discussing possible players they think could slide into those spots.

First, let’s briefly break down the East All-Stars:

Logically, there are three immediate spots to fill with the migration of George, Butler and Millsap, and remember, there are 12 All-Stars representing each conference.

However...

New Boston Celtic Gordon Hayward is a surefire addition to the team - so add him in.

Joel Embiid, the supremely talented big man who has all the moves, can knock down triples and entertain us on Twitter, is probably going to be deserving if he can stay healthy (and if the 76ers can win a few games). Let’s add him too.

Supposedly, according to Bleacher Report, that leaves the Eastern All-Star team with just one spot unaccounted for. See, Bleacher Report infers that Kevin Love (replacement for Melo) and Kemba Walker — who were both Eastern Conference All-Stars last season — aren’t quite shoo-ins to make the team again. It seems pretty logical and fair. Love and Walker are both damn good players, but hardly perennial All-Stars.

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That brings us to these nine safely assumed locks:

LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Gordon Hayward, Joel Embiid.

You might be tempted to include Kristaps Porzingis as a lock too, but as you’ll realize soon, that’s not really the point of this exercise.

Now to the Bleacher Report article:

We have three spots to fill.

Bleacher Report spoke to five NBA scouts to get some early predictions for who might get the nod. Some of the mentioned names will not come as a surprise: Kristaps Porzingis, Kemba Walker, Bradley Beal.

But a few new names popped up as well. Here are five players who could be making their first All-Star team:

The three names above are good, logicial choices. However, when talking about first-time All-Stars, to the astonishment of anyone believing that we still live in the real world, Detroit Pistons shooting guard Avery Bradley was NOT one of the five players mentioned.

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Instead, the five players mentioned are Myles Turner, ex-Piston Khris Middleton, Dennis Schroder, and two new Eastern Conference guards Zach LaVine (Bulls) and D’Angelo Russell (Nets).

Let some of those names sink in, especially the latter three. Certain NBA scouts had them over the likes of Avery Bradley.

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So, the point of this exercise seems to be: Avery Bradley vs. Everybody.

Sounds like a Detroit kind of player..