Halfway through the inaugural NSL season and there have been some disappointing starts, some teams that have bolted out of the gates and a ton of banter.

While standings and Win-Loss is looked at on a daily basis, I wanted to have a look across the league and come up with what I think the All-NSL 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd teams would look like at the halfway point.

I will say some of these decisions were more difficult than expected and there will likely be some GM’s that vehemently disagree with my choices.

The teams were picked with a Centre, 2 Forwards and 2 Guards. Players were eligible for the positions they have played the majority of their NSL games so far and to be eligible the cutoff point was 31 games played so far at the end of week 10 (75% of their possible games).

 

I have added an Honorable mention team to cover off the guys that probably would have made it onto one of the 3 teams had it not been for particular reason like not enough games played or an abundance of talent at one position First up those players that were at least shortlisted when I started the endeavor:

 

Center – DeAndre Jordan (MIA), Dwight Howard (LAC, UTH,POR), Jonas Valanciunas (LAL)

Forward – Blake Griffin (DET), Jaylen Brown (MEM), Lauri, Markkanen (OKC)

Guard –Trae Young (DAL), Khris Middleton(OKC), Donovan Mitchell(NOP)

 

Honorable Mention Team

 

These guys were right there for selection but didn’t make the cut

 

Guards:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
Jimmy Butler	41	23.4	4.9	5.0	2.7	0.7	24.9	24.6
Devin Booker	38	27.5	3.7	3.8	0.9	0.3	22.0	26.2

 

I’ll be honest, I moved Butler and Booker in and out of the 3^rd team a number of times, their raw numbers stack up with the guys that I selected to make the team. For Butler his scoring average is boosted from his time in Utah and has been trending down since joining the juggernaut Blazers (as to be expected playing next to James Harden), his defense is elite and could easily be in the 3^rd team, Booker’s scoring is top flight (9^th I the league) the other guys just have better stats outside of scoring.

 

Forwards:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
Kristaps Porzingis	30	27.4	11.4	3.7	1.8	2.1	35.6	30.3
Paul George	30	29.8	7.0	4.1	20	0.6	27.3	30.9

 

Both of these guys would be on my All-NSL teams if it wasn’t for the games played, there has to be a cut off somewhere and I decided 75% would be good (meaning over a whole season 62 games played which would be the minimum you would want to make the All league teams.) I expect both of these guys voted onto teams come the end of the season should they stay healthy. For the record I would have had Porzingis on the 2^nd team and George on the 3^rd team.

 

Centre:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
Karl Anthony Towns	28	21.4	14.5	3.6	1.7	1.3	32.7	26.8

 

This would be my 1^st team All-NSL center had he played enough games. He is ranked number 8 in NLL and the top ranked center. The Center position is weaker across the board than the Guards or Forwards and it’s really a 4-horse race for the 3 spots right now.

 

 All-NSL 3^rd Team

 

 

Guards:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
Kemba Walker	35	27.2	2.7	5.9	1.6	0.2	21.7	30.2
Ben Simmons	36	23.8	5.8	7.3	1.3	0.6	25.5	26

 

Ben Simmons got in as my last selection and it was a tougher choice than expected between him and Booker. Simmons has the superior efficiency and better stats across the board except scoring and that was enough for him to get the nod.

Kemba is forming a formidable duo with Drummond in Brooklyn and both are putting up big numbers. Kemba was close to cracking the 2^nd team but wasn’t quite at the level of the next two guards.

 

Forwards:

GP PPG RPG APG SPG BPG   EFF PER
Luka Doncic 39 22.2 6.3 5.1 1.0 0.3 20.9 23.5 Demar DeRozan 40 22.8 5.1 3.8 1.5 0.4 21.5 25.7

The forward spots were an interesting research, with a few guys ineligible it opened some opportunities for guys that may not be good enough to crack the teams at the end of the season. Doncic and DeRozan are both putting up impressive numbers but with George and Porzingis ineligible they make it into the 3^rd team for now.

 

Centre:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
Andre Drummond	39	13.2	15.5	1.7	1.7	1.8	28.5	22.1

 
Drummond leads the league in rebounding and is top 10 in both steals and blocks among centers, his scoring lets him down in grabbing one of the top 2 spots and if KAT was eligible, he would be an honorable mention.

  

All-NSL 2^nd Team

 

 

Guards:

	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	EFF	PER
James Harden	41	28.2	4.5	7.0	1.3	0.6	25.6	30.2
Damian Lillard	34	28.9	3.6	Archive · POTW/ROTW Week 10! · GM of the year - Early Candidates · Vale Kobe · POTW/ROTW Week 9! · Premium: Mid-season All-NSL teams · POTW/ROTW Week 8! · Headline · Headline · Ratings Update Week 8 · POTW/ROTW Week 7!