NBA All-Star Game 2019: Predicting the Eastern Conference All-Stars

Wild cards

Lowry guarding Beal in the 2018 NBA playoffs

Kyle Lowry

The Toronto Raptors are leading the NBA in win percentage this season thus far, and have done so for the better part of the last couple of months.

While they're an excellent system team with lots of capable role players who're elite at specific skills and Nick Nurse has put his players in position to succeed in every single encounter this season save for their blowout in San Antonio, Lowry's pure basketball ability is clear to anyone who's watched him carry the franchise for years on end.

Lowry is second in the NBA in assists per game, dishing out 9.7 dimes a game. This more than makes up for his sub-par shooting through November and December, which he's sure to bounce back from in the months to come.

Bradley Beal

The Washington Wizards' 2018-19 NBA season has been a series of mishaps and misfortunes for the franchise and the players on it.

After a bad start to the season, they seemed to be recovering the steam required for a playoff push and were winding up in 9th place in the Conference standings before they went into a free fall following John Wall's injury troubles.

Bradley Beal, however, continues to make his case as the best pure shooting guard in the Eastern Conference, and it is no exaggeration to say that he's put them on his back in the past month or so given their dearth of offensive options.

Beal doubles up as a playmaker when he's not isoing or knocking down 3-point shots, and does an exemplary job of it, keeping the ball moving and the turnovers down. He deserves a second straight All-Star nod, all things considered.