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All-Star selections tend to inspire plenty of passion, but not everyone can be properly rewarded. In fact, not even a list of snubs can give credit to all the players who evoke positive feelings from fanbases. The following players will inevitably be discussed, though our formula doesn't allow them to qualify for any of this article's featured spots or notable exclusions:

Carmelo Anthony, SF/PF, Oklahoma City Thunder: Minus-0.52 Player Score

Yes, Carmelo Anthony is averaging 17.9 points per game. He's also slashing 42.4/36.5/76.6, failing to contribute much on defense and having trouble picking up the slack in any other non-scoring areas.

Devin Booker, SG, Phoenix Suns: 1.3 Player Score

The young shooting guard is trending in the right direction and scoring with aplomb, but his game isn't yet complete enough to garner statistical support. That'll change once he starts playing defense or has a full season of shooting percentages like the ones he's maintained in recent outings.

Scoring 25 points per game is impressive, but the Phoenix Suns' willingness to lean on him a bit too much is what ultimately holds him back. His true shooting percentage (57.3 percent), while much improved from his first two campaigns, isn't far enough above the league average (55.6 percent) to make volume shooting a statistically valuable strategy.

His score sells him short, but it's also well shy of the necessary cutoff.

Goran Dragic, PG, Miami Heat: Minus-0.19 Player Score

Though the Miami Heat are winning games and Goran Dragic is the team's leading scorer, his porous defense and shooting struggles have not made him the most valuable presence on the roster. In fact, his score falls behind that of the following teammates: Wayne Ellington (0.36), Josh Richardson (0.49), James Johnson (0.69) and Kelly Olynyk (1.17).

Marc Gasol, C, Memphis Grizzlies: 1.86 Player Score

The scoring numbers are still present, but Marc Gasol isn't having the same type of impact on the Memphis Grizzlies and has allowed his injury-riddled troops to slide down the Western Conference standings. He's a step slower on the defensive end, and his field-goal percentage (41.8) is plunging as he's unable to gain quite as much separation from foes eager to contest every one of his attempts.

Khris Middleton, SG/SF, Milwaukee Bucks: 1.68 Player Score

As the saying goes, defense wins championships. The lack of it also makes an All-Star snub.

Khris Middleton sits at No. 75 among 86 listed small forwards in ESPN.com's defensive real plus/minus. The defensive portion of NBA Math's total points added has him ahead of only six players, regardless of position. The Milwaukee Bucks allow 0.4 more points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor, even though he's often replaced by weak defenders and suits up alongside point-preventing stalwarts for much of his run.

Case closed? Case closed.

Dirk Nowitzki, PF/C, Dallas Mavericks: 1.47 Player Score

Truthfully, you should be impressed with Dirk Nowitzki's score, which trails the marks earned by only 55 other players. Considering he's on the brink of celebrating his 40th birthday, that's nothing to be ashamed of.

But to move up higher, the German 7-footer would need to A) do more on defense, B) get to the charity stripe a bit more frequently (1.5 free-throw attempts per game) or C) log more than 25.1 minutes per game.

Hassan Whiteside, C, Miami Heat: Unknown Player Score

See: minutes cutoff addressed in the introduction.

Hassan Whiteside, due to a steady stream of injuries and head coach Erik Spoelstra's shuffling the rotation in search of the most beneficial combinations, has only logged 758 minutes during the 2017-18 campaign. That leaves him 42 shy of qualifying for the rankings.

Andrew Wiggins, SG/SF, Minnesota Timberwolves: Minus-0.92 Player Score

Don't be fooled by the occasional high-scoring explosions, because Andrew Wiggins is still a decisively negative presence for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Maybe he's still brimming over with upside, but his inability to play defense at a league-average level, unwillingness to chip in as a facilitator (1.8 APG) or rebounder (4.2 RPG) and woeful efficiency levels don't help his case.

Remember that league-average true shooting percentage of 55.6 percent? Wiggins is now at a career-worst 51.0 percent—the product of shooting only 44.0 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from deep and 63.6 percent at the stripe.