Although Domantas Sabonis made an All-star appearance last season, people are still sleeping on the big man from Indiana. Sabonis was drafted by the Magic and traded to the Thunder with Ersan Ilyasova & Victor Oladipo on draft night.
After a lackluster rookie season where he was misused, he was traded with Victor Oladipo to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George. The first reactions to the trade, the Pacers had gotten fleeced for trading two role players at the time for an All-star in Paul George. Oladipo proved that to be wrong as he went onto become an All-star his first year with Indiana and Sabonis being the 6th man for the Pacers for his first two seasons.
The Pacers decided to finally let Sabonis start and he never looked back after. In his first year starting, Domantas Sabonis averaged 18.5 PPG, 12.4 RPG, and 5.0 APG. It was enough for him to become an All-star in his first year as a starter.
Even after being an All-star in his first year starting, people were hating on Sabonis. They thought he shouldn’t have been an All-star and didn’t deserve to be one. Many analysts and fans thought he wasn’t entertaining enough to watch to be in the All-star game. Sure, Sabonis doesn’t necessarily have a flashy game, but he will destroy your favorite center offensively. Sabonis is extremely crafty inside the paint and does a great job finishing around the rim. If Sabonis was on a team like the Lakers, he’d be considered a top 15 player in the league.
In Sabonis’ first game in the 2020-21 season, Sabonis dropped 32 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and shot 2-4 from 3 point land. If Sabonis can consistently start shooting threes now, this makes him so much more dangerous to guard.
Domantas is only 24 years old and is still getting plenty better. There’s no doubt in my mind, he will get another All-star nod this season.
