SI.com’s All-Star ‘Fantasy’ Draft

With a nod to how the NHL determined All-Star teams this year, Chris Mannix and I decided to hold a fantasy draft for the 24 players who will appear in the NBA’s midseason exhibition Sunday in Los Angeles. Freed from East/West designations, here is how our draft played out:

Mannix: LeBron James. Having the most complete player in the game is the only way to start a draft.

Lowe: Dwight Howard. I was hoping you’d outsmart yourself and go against the obvious strategy of picking the world’s best player, leaving me to snap up LeBron. Howard is my plan B. He’s probably not the second-best player in the world, but he’s the best defensive player and has a rare skill set.

Mannix: Deron Williams. I know, I know. We live in Chris Paul’s world and Derrick Rose should be the MVP. But no one blends scoring and playmaking as well as Williams and I want him running my team.

Lowe: Kevin Durant. I may be outsmarting myself here, because KD, as good as he is, is not the next best player available. But amid all these big men and point guards in the draft pool, there aren’t many true small forwards — and none who can stretch the floor quite like Durant does with all of his movement off the ball. Plus, I can at least make LeBron work on defense a bit.

Mannix: Amar’e Stoudemire. They didn’t team up in Cleveland or Miami, but LeBron and Amar’e are both on my roster. I like Stoudemire’s ability to play big minutes at both big frontcourt positions and he will feast on the easy looks that will be created when a pass-happy James drives to the basket.

Lowe: Kobe Bryant. (Between Amar’e, LeBron and D-Will, you’re building the Fantasy 2013 Knicks, huh?) Anyway, I keep picking by position, which may end up screwing me, but I wanted one of the two best guards here — Kobe or Dwyane Wade — and I chose Bryant, in part because he’s crazy enough to actually play hard in this fake game.

Mannix: Dwyane Wade. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Of all the criticisms I’ve heard of Wade — too ball controlling, poor shot selection — not playing hard has never been one of them. In keeping with my (apparent) wannabe Knicks theme, I’ll take LeBron’s current running buddy and watching him run Kobe ragged.

Lowe: Kevin Garnett. There are so many more talented guys left, but I’m going with Garnett to add another insane person who will play hard for me — and to put him with Howard to create the nightmare defensive front line pairing. His combination of passing, screen-setting and jump-shooting will make him an ideal complementary player on a team in which he might be the fifth offensive option whenever he’s on the floor. There are two other bigs here with KG’s combination of two-ways skills — Al Horford and Pau Gasol — but in one game, with everything on the line, I still want KG over both of them.

Mannix: Derrick Rose. I know, I already have a point guard. But Rose’s size, power and scoring ability make him the perfect combo guard off the bench. If either Williams or Wade gets into foul trouble, I’m comfortable with one guy stepping in.

Lowe: Chris Paul. I know you’re not taking a third point guard — unless you plan to hoard them all — and I’ve been holding off on snagging CP3 since you selected D-Will early. But if I skip him here, there’s at least a chance you’ll take him and leave me the two guys with the least reliable jumpers (Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo).

Mannix: Dirk Nowitzki. Lot of versatility in my lineup. I’m not sold on Dirk’s ability to lead a team to a title, but I am 100 percent sure that, with my guards wreaking havoc, he is going to knock down a lot of open jumpers. And I’ve seen the Dirk vs. KG matchups, live and in person. KG ain’t winning that one.

Lowe: Manu Ginobili. You’re already sporting three solid backcourt threats, so I’ll dip into that pool and snag Manu, giving me a legit combo guard who can do pretty much everything. I want elite long-range shooting, passing and defense from as many guys as possible, and Manu fits that standard.

Mannix: Tim Duncan. Yeah, yeah, I didn’t think Duncan was an All-Star, either. But since he’s in the pool — and since my frontcourt probably couldn’t keep a good AAU squad from putting up 90 — I’m tapping TD to bring a little defensive intensity.

Lowe: Carmelo Anthony. He won’t start for me, but with the paucity of tall and physical small forwards here, I’m counting on Anthony to cause some matchup problems. He could serve as my designated bench scorer and a suitable crunch-time shooter, and since this is my team, I’ll yank him if he plays lazy defense.

Mannix: Kevin Love. Granted, I’ve been steering the K-Love bandwagon for a while — he was a starter on my ballot — and taking him over Blake Griffin is excruciating. But this isn’t NBA Live and a windmill dunk isn’t worth more than a layup. Besides, with Love cleaning up the glass, it frees Amar’e and Dirk to assault the rim.

Lowe: Blake Griffin. He will smash things, and that’s not something you can say about most of the big men here. Between Blake, Howard and Garnett, I’m confident my guys can win the rebounding battle even though the league’s best rebounder is on your team.

Mannix: Paul Pierce. Going with the best perimeter scorer on the board. Pierce isn’t a high flyer, but he gets to the line and can get a tough bucket in traffic. Plus, he’s winner. I like winners.

Lowe: Pau Gasol. Of the three really good all-around bigs left, I’ll take Gasol, whose peak game exceeds that of both Horford and Chris Bosh — even if Horford is rising fast. His length on defense can bother both Dirk and Amar’e, and his quick passing skills will help even more than usual with a surrounding cast like this.

Mannix: Russell Westbrook. (Cough, cough. Did you just suggest that Pau’s length would bother Dirk and Amar’e? You mean like a piece of cellophane is a deterrent for a cruise missile?) Anyway, I’m going all-in on big combo guards with suspect jump shots. As much hype as Durant has received, you can make a real argument that Westbrook has been the best player on the Thunder this season.

Lowe: Rajon Rondo. Someone has to back up Chris Paul, I guess. I’ll give Rondo limited minutes — and hopefully I can put him on the floor with KG, Howard and Kobe. That’s a nice foursome to build a defense around.

Mannix: Ray Allen. (Paul and Rondo together? Guess you’re not going for the all-chemistry team.) Allen’s the pick here. I need someone to make open shots and calm down all these youngsters in the critical moments.

Lowe: Al Horford. (With Paul and Rondo, I’m confident I can get them to get along despite the past ugliness and alleged locker room confrontation — or near confrontation, or loud yelling, or whatever it is that happened). I wanted Allen for the floor-spacing, but hopefully I’ve got that covered with Manu, Paul, Durant and Kobe.

Mannix: Joe Johnson. I don’t love his three-point shooting this year (barely above 30 percent), but Johnson has always been a polished scorer. I’d feel pretty comfortable playing him at three positions, too.

Lowe: Chris Bosh. Does this make Bosh Mr. Irrelevant?