NBA All-Star Game mock draft: Joel Embiid and Donovan Mitchell could be first starters taken

The NBA has tweaked its annual All-Star Game again. The 2023 edition in Salt Lake City will be the sixth to use the draft format in which two captains — LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo in this case — select players regardless of conference affiliation to fill out their All-Star rosters. But after five seasons of holding the draft weeks before the All-Star Game, the NBA moved the festivities to the day of the game, making it even more like the playground format the draft was meant to emulate.

Whether this results in more drama remains to be seen. This year’s draft will feature the reserves being selected before the starters, another major change from the first five years, which produced some memorable moments. In 2019, Antetokounmpo playfully accused James of “tampering” when he drafted Anthony Davis, then still with the New Orleans Pelicans. Last year, Kevin Durant awkwardly refused to draft James Harden after his former Brooklyn Nets teammate had just been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

To get you ready for the draft, which will take place right before Sunday’s game (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT), we have ESPN writers making their own selections, with Kirk Goldsberry representing Team LeBron and Kevin Pelton representing Team Giannis.

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