All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams Announced; How Positionless Teams Impact Voting

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Before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, the NBA announced their 2023-24 All-NBA teams, which followed the announcement of the NBA All-Defensive Teams on Tuesday. With the NBA going to positionless teams this season when it comes to awards, it was expected there could be some shakeups compared to the usual teams the NBA sees. The three All-NBA teams are as follows:

All-NBA First Team

Nikola Jokic- Denver Nuggets

Shai Gilgeous Alexander- Oklahoma City Thunder

Luka Doncic- Dallas Mavericks

Giannis Antetokounmpo-Milwaukee Bucks

Jayson Tatum- Boston Celtics

All-NBA Second Team

Jalen Brunson-New York Knicks

Anthony Davis- Los Angeles Lakers

Anthony Edwards- Minnesota Timberwolves

Kevin Durant- Phoenix Suns

Kawhi Leonard- Los Angeles Clippers

All-NBA Third Team

Stephen Curry- Golden State Warriors

Devin Booker- Phoenix Suns

Tyrese Haliburton- Indiana Pacers

LeBron James- Los Angeles Lakers

Domantas Sabonis- Sacramento Kings

Of the five players voted to the All-NBA first team, Jokic, and Gilgeous-Alexander would be the only players unanimously voted to the team. Doncic would fall one vote short of being unanimously voted to the first team. With his third-team All-NBA selection, LeBron becomes the oldest, All-NBA player as well as the only player to have 20 All-NBA selections, starting with his second season through this season. Edwards, Brunson, and Haliburton all earned their first All-NBA selections after amazing seasons.

For a few players, the All-NBA team selection means extremely lucrative extensions. For Luka Doncic, he is now eligible to sign a five-year, $346.9 million extension which would surpass Jaylen Brown’s five-year, $303.7 million supermax contract as the richest in NBA history. For SGA, he is eligible for a four-year, $294.3 million extension. Edwards and Haliburton are also eligible to sign extensions to their rookie contracts. Both were originally valued at $205 million, but would now be valued at $245.4 million.

When looking at the three All-NBA teams, it is clear the voting is closely aligned with the voting of previous years. The first two All-NBA teams feature two backcourt players alongside two frontcourt players. The third All-NBA team is the only team that features three backcourt players alongside two frontcourt players.

The two All-Defensive teams are as follows:

All-Defensive First Team

Bam Adebayo- Miami Heat

Anthony Davis- Los Angeles Lakers

Rudy Gobert- Minnesota Timberwolves

Herb Jones- New Orleans Pelicans

Victor Wembanyama- San Antonio Spurs

All-Defensive Second Team

Alex Caruso- Chicago Bulls

Jrue Holiday- Boston Celtics

Jaden McDaniels- Minnesota Timberwolves

Jalen Suggs- Orlando Magic

Derrick White- Boston Celtics

Of the players on the first team, Gobert was the only player to receive all 99 first-place votes. Wembanyama becomes the first rookie to the named to the first team after an amazing rookie season on the defensive end. OKC’s Lu Dort would miss an All-Defensive Second team by just two points.

The addition of positionless teams largely affected the All-Defensive teams in comparison to the All-NBA teams. The first team featured four centers and one forward. The second team would feature four guards and one forward, something Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso was quick to point out. If the voting was not positionless this season, Caruso would have been a near-lock for the first team. In terms of voting, Caruso would fall just 21 points short of the last All-Defensive first-team spot held by Anthony Davis. Making another All-Defensive team, Caruso has become eligible for a new deal worth up to $18 million per year, via Sportrac.

If the voting was not positionless this season, two of the four centers on the first team would not have earned a selection. With Rudy Gobert winning Defensive Player of the Year, it’s likely he would have landed the first-team nod. The runner-up, Wembanyama, would have taken the second team spot with Adebayo and Davis missing out completely. Due to the teams being positionless, Adebayo received his first All-Defensive team selection after being named to the second team the last four seasons. While there are plenty of benefits for the teams being positionless, such as certain players getting a chance to make the teams who wouldn’t have made it before, the 2023-24 voting shows frontcourt players are seen as more valuable than any of the backcourt players.