Lou Williams Belongs in 2018 All-Star Game

                For the second time this season, Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams was awarded the Western Conference Player of the Week. Appearing in four games in the week of Jan. 8 through Jan.14—all wins for the Clippers—Williams averaged 35 points per contest, shooting 45.7 percent from three-point territory and 96.7 percent from the free-throw line in 36.5 minutes per game.

Congratulations @TeamLou23! 👏#NBAVote 🔁 Retweet pic.twitter.com/3nY4Rg4Ere

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 15, 2018

                The most noteworthy performance for Williams came against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. He scored a career-best 50 points in the upset victory.

                Williams began his campaign for a third Player of the Week honors with a bang on Monday night, totaling game-highs in points (31), assists (9) and plus/minus (+16) in a 113-102 win against the Houston Rockets, the franchise that traded him to LA this summer in a blockbuster deal for star guard Chris Paul.

                Williams, a 13-year veteran, is now a star himself and deserves to represent the Western Conference in the 2018 All-Star Game.  He is averaging career-highs in points (23.8), assists (5.0) and three-point percentage (41.6%). He has started 12 games and appeared in 30 games off the bench. Williams is currently the NBA’s leading bench scorer, averaging 21.8 points per game as a reserve.

                Carrying a Clippers team that many figured to miss the postseason—especially in the wake of a season-ending injury to starting guard Patrick Beverley—Los Angeles has a 22-21 record behind Williams, good enough for the Western Conference's No. 7 seed if the playoffs started today.

                Among Western Conference guards, Stephen Curry, James Harden and Russell Westbrook are locks to make the All-Star team. Based off the latest tally for fan voting, Curry and Harden will start the game, which means Westbrook will come off the bench.

                Williams will complete with the likes of Paul, the Portland Trail Blazers’ backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, the Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler and the Warriors’ Klay Thompson for reserve spots in the All-Star Game. Williams has recorded a 22.9 player efficiency rating (PER), the third-most among the aforementioned players, trailing only Paul—who might get excluded from the roster because he has only appeared in 25 games this season—and Butler. With the Trail Blazers (22-21) only a game above .500, the team will likely have just one All-Star representative, so either Lillard or McCollum should get the short end of the stick. Booker has been a terrific scorer this season for the woeful Suns, but his lower PER (18.82) and major defensive inefficiencies make him a lesser All-Star candidate than Williams. Butler, who has elevated his level of play for Minnesota in the wake of Jeff Teague’s injury, is expected to make the All-Star roster.

                The catalyst of a surging Clippers squad, Williams should make the All-Star team over Thompson, who is the fourth-most important player on the Warriors behind Kevin Durant, Curry and Draymond Green. Thompson is a much better defensive player than Williams, but has had a far less impact on his team’s success this season.

Klay Thompson is looking to make his fourth straight All-Star Game appearance. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

                The West had just four guards on the All-Star team last year, but this season it could roster at least six guards (two starters and four reserves). It will be up to the voting of the coaches and players to put Williams in his first career All-Star Game, a recognition he certainly merits.