The 2024-25 All-Poetry Team

Some of my favorite players to watch

It’s time to name my All-Poetry team, which allows me to discuss some of my favorite players to watch this year.

We all would love to inject Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Thompson twins straight into our eyeballs; I mostly left the obvious choices off of my list.

This isn’t a list of great players; a couple aren’t even all that good. But for one reason or another, something about them always drew my attention.

Apparently, I skipped this exercise last season, but here’s my list from 2023 and 2022 in case you’re curious.

All-Poetry First Team

Toumani Camara, Portland Trail Blazers

You have that one thing you’re hipster about. Something you catch onto before it enters the zeitgeist and can’t stop telling other people about, irritating everyone around you. Then, you ride the roller coaster of emotions as it enters the national conversation. You battle some weirdly possessive jealousy as bigger names laud your thing, even as you are happy it’s taking off and getting the recognition it deserves.

For me, that thing is Toumani Camara.

He made one of my All-Rookie teams last season, and I predicted he’d nab one of my All-Defensive slots this year in the first few weeks of the season (spoilers: it’s happening). The defense is nasty, but we’ll be talking more about that in the coming weeks. His raw but improving offensive game deserves love, too.

He’s a quick-read passer who would have a bigger role with the ball on a team with fewer ballhandlers — he’s behind Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, and Scoot Henderson in the playmaking department. He’s up to 36% from deep on 4.2 triples per game in his second year — respectable enough for this archetype.

Oh, and he’ll obliterate faces:

Portland has been a shockingly fun team to watch all season, and I’m even starting to come around on coach Chauncey Billups (to a very small extent). Camara has been a big reason why.

Miles McBride, New York Knicks

McBride earned coach Tom Thibodeau’s trust via a high motor and strong defensive effort, but that’s not what caught my eye this season. I have a note dated 10/28/24 that says, “Did McBride suddenly become one of the best jump shooters in NBA? Drilled middie in Mobley’s eye.”

Here’s the play:

That’s an early-shot-clock midrange pull-up by a bench player against a defensive superstar. Not a good shot. Watching this tape would send Daryl Morey to his own personal hell.

And yet, McBride’s confidence — and the result — have stuck with me all season. It turns out I wasn’t the only one to think that, as James L. Edwards III from The Athletic eventually wrote a nice piece on McBride’s swishy tendency. “I get mad when it touches rim,” McBride said.

The numbers won’t back me up, as McBride is shooting a respectable but hardly automatic 37% from deep. This is where the eye bias comes into play, as I’d bet I’ve seen most of McBride’s best games and few of his worst.

But I don’t care! This is my team, and McBride makes the list.

Jose Alvarado, New Orleans Pelicans

Lost in the Pelicans’ snakebitten season is the fact that Jose Alvarado has become a legitimately dangerous outside shooter (39% on eight attempts per 36 minutes is very good) and playmaker. Advanced metrics point out that he talks more sh*t per 100 possessions than anyone in the league.

And yes, opponents are still falling for his Grand Theft Alvarado thing. It’s crazy! How do they not see this coming by now?

A previous All-Poetry member, Alvarado’s mere presence brings an element of unpredictability and excitement to even the saddest New Orleans games.