Picking teams by talent is fine. Picking by who you want to impress is how teams rot.

Selection shows what you are actually optimising for. Choosing for ability is honest and everyone can follow the logic of it; choosing to flatter someone turns the group into a social arrangement that then has to keep pretending it is about the game. The people who were passed over understand immediately, and the person you picked knows too. Both of those facts stay in the room afterwards.

When you next have a say in who goes where, write your reason down before you announce the name. If the reason would embarrass you out loud, choose differently. Saying it publicly is what keeps you honest.