Milwaukee Bucks: Making Jrue Holiday’s 2023 All-Star case

Jrue Holiday’s All-Star case: Voted players Jrue deserves to be in over

The top five backcourt vote getters in the Eastern Conference are Kyrie Irving, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, James Harden and Trae Young, no doubt those five are locks for the All-Star game. My first bone to pick is with Demar DeRozan, who is certainly an All-Star caliber player, that said, Jrue Holiday stacks up pretty well to Demar in several metrics.

No surprise that Demar DeRozan averages more points per game, 26.1 to 19.6, as DeRozan shoots on average 2.6 more field goals and 5.1 more free throws per game than Holiday. However, looking at their numbers a bit more closely, Jrue has a case to be in over DeRozan. Demar DeRozan does shoot four percent higher from the field than Jrue Holiday, but doesn’t hold a candle to Jrue behind the 3-point line. Holiday has an 11.7 percent edge behind the arc. The two are within two percent of each other at the free throw line.

The two also average nearly the same amount of rebounds. Now, consider the fact that Jrue Holiday is a better defender and averages 2.6 more assists per game than DeRozan, Jrue has a case there. This is all before you get to the fact that the Bucks are third in the East and the Bulls are currently a play-in team.

Seventh on the Eastern Conference backcourt list is LaMelo Ball, who is currently sidelined and has dealt with several injuries this season. However, whether or not Ball is healthy when the All-Star game rolls around next month isn’t particularly relevant. Like DeRozan, Holiday does average fewer points per game than Ball. Holiday does shoot 4.5 fewer field goals per game, however Holiday is more efficient on field goal and 3-point percentages than Ball. The two average nearly the same amount of rebounds and Holiday trails Ball by just 0.7 in assists per game while averaging 0.3 more steals per game. On the season Holiday represents a better offensive rating and a lower defensive rating, suggesting he has been the better player, his team’s record would also reflect that as Jrue Holiday and the Bucks maintain one of the best records in the Eastern Conference.

The last three vote getters in the Eastern Conference are Tyrese Haliburton, the Wisconsin native, who deserves to be an All-Star, Derrick Rose, who is on the list as a purely nostalgic pick, and Darius Garland, who is having himself a solid season. Out of those three, Jrue Holiday should certainly be in over Rose and probably over Garland as well.