By Taylor Armosino

Wednesday, on the eve of Miami’s finals rematch with San Antonio, the NBA announced its 2013-’14 All-NBA Teams. As always, the selections were met with complaints from fans whose favorite players didn’t make the cut. As usual, there were some deserving players omitted — Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Anthony Davis, in particular.

As voted on by members of the media, the teams shaped up as follows:

First Team: F: Kevin Durant, OKC, F: LeBron James, MIA, C: Joakim Noah, CHI, G: Chris Paul, LAC, G: James Harden, HOU

Second Team: F: Blake Griffin, LAC, F: Kevin Love, MIN, C: Dwight Howard, HOU, G: Stephen Curry, GSW, G: Tony Parker, SAS

Third Team: F: Paul George, IND, F: LaMarcus Aldridge, POR, C: Al Jefferson, CHA, G: Goran Dragic, PHX, G: Damian Lillard, POR

The Association currently is blessed with a plethora of really good players, so with just 15 slots available for All-NBA recognition, not all of them can be honored. But there is a legitimate critique to be made with respect to the voting process, which hasn’t been changed to foot with All-Star voting that’s designed to select more of the best (or most popular) players.

All-Star voting only requires that three frontcourt slots are filled along with two in the backcourt. All-NBA Teams, on the other hand, require two guards, two forwards and one center. This doesn’t make sense in the modern version of the league, where teams are downsizing in favor of quicker, more versatile lineups. Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns teams of the mid-2000's brought floor-spacing small-ball back into the mainstream, and recently, the Mavericks, Heat and Spurs have brought championship-level legitimacy to that style of play.

As proven by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2012 Finals and the Pacers just a few weeks ago, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to beat elite teams without also going smaller. The role of the traditional center has been marginalized across much of the league. As such, it doesn’t make sense that voters are pigeonholed into having to pick a center for each of the three All-NBA teams.

This was an absolutely stacked year for forwards. Had the All-NBA Teams rewarded frontcourt players as a whole instead of carving out a spot for a center on each of the three teams, they would’ve been more indicative of who the best players in the league really were.

Here is how the teams probably would look with the adjusted backcourt/frontcourt format. Of course, aside from the really elite guys — Durant, LeBron, CP3 — there are arguments to be made for or against each guy on each of the teams:

First team:
F: Kevin Durant, OKC, F: LeBron James, MIA, F: Blake Griffin, LAC, G: Chris Paul, LAC, G: James Harden, HOU

Second team:
F: Kevin Love, MIN, C: Dwight Howard, HOU, C: Joakim Noah, CHI, G: Stephen Curry, GSW, G: Tony Parker, SAS

Third team:
Paul George, IND, Carmelo Anthony, NYK, LaMarcus Aldridge, POR, Damian Lillard, POR, Goran Dragic, PHX

On the first team, Griffin replaces Noah. Griffin finished third in MVP voting, and if you’re evaluating him against Noah when they’re considered positional equals, Griffin had the better season. There’s no true center on the first team.

Noah then joins Howard on the second team. The lack of a positional requirement allows both guys to get their proper level of recognition.

On the third team, Carmelo Anthony — omitted altogether on the real-life teams — replaces Al Jefferson, who had a great season but probably isn’t on here if a center isn’t guaranteed a spot. I chose Anthony to fill that spot because he received more points in the real life vote than Nowitzki or Davis — Anthony received 86 points, Davis 40, Dirk 37 — but if it were up to me, Nowitzki would’ve been my choice.

As you can see, the backcourt/frontcourt format doesn’t greatly alter which players are selected; only one player, Jefferson, was omitted from the new and improved teams. It just produces a more accurate result.

Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops received criticism for placing Griffin on the All-NBA first team in place of LeBron. He was the only voter to have James on the second team. I don’t agree with his decision to knock James down a team — it’s laughable, really — but he’s not wrong in rewarding Griffin’s season. He was absolutely deserving of First Team honors.

Moving to the backcourt/frontcourt format may impede true centers’ chances of making the team, but that shouldn’t matter. If there aren’t any centers worthy of honors, then those spots should go to other positions. All-NBA teams are supposed to reward the top players in the sport. Shouldn’t the voting system try to best enable that goal?

@tarmosino is a Contributor to the ESPN True Hoop Network via KnickerBlogger.net.