Official Picks For The NBA All Star Weekend Events
With tonight being the official start of the 2018 NBA All Star Weekend, what better time to talk about all the events and pick some winners mostly so I can take credit if it happens and then forget all about it if I’m wrong. Plus it’s late on a Friday afternoon, what are you going to do, work? Let’s get started.
Event #1 – Mountain Dew KickStart Rising Stars Challenge
This used to be the Rookie/Sophomore game but it’s been rebranded and is now a Team USA vs Team World, but still comprised of all the young promising studs the NBA has to offer. Here’s the breakdown
Team USA
Jaylen Brown
Jayson Tatum
John Collins
Kris Dunn
Brandon Ingram
Kyle Kuzma
Donovan Mitchell
Dennis Smith Jr
Taurean Prince
De’Aron Fox
Team World
Bogdan Bogdanovic
Dillon Brooks
Joel Embiid
Buddy Hield
Baby Dirk
Jamal Murray
Frankie Tentacles
Domantas Sabonis
Ben Simmons
Dario Saric
As of my writing this, Team USA is 2 point favorites and I’m not so sure about that. These games are usually all about offense and shooting and I’m not sold that Team USA has better shooters. I don’t have to tell you how streaky Jaylen and Tatum are, they’re currently fighting slumps so unless Ingram/Kuzma get really hot from deep this team could be in trouble.
With Team World you have Bogdan, Hield, Baby Dirk, Murray and Saric who can all go lights out. Not to mention they will have the best overall player on the court in Embiid who you just know is ready to put on a show. Team USA will give you the highlight dunks, but I think the shooting of Team World will be too much.
Official Pick: Team World
Event #2 – Celebrity All Star Game
Personally this is my least favorite event of the weekend, mostly because it’s like watching terrible JCC weekend basketball. To be honest I’d prefer they just rid of it and do like H-O-R-S-E or something. Maybe 3 on 3 or 21 or something more entertaining. Anyway, here’s how the two teams shape up
Team Lakers
Justin Bieber
Sterling Brim
Nick Cannon (he’s hilaaaaaarious)
Terrance Crawford
Rachel DeMita
Jerry Ferrara
Marc Lasry
Tracy McGrady
Caleb McLaughlin
Candace Parker
Nate Robinson
Drew Scott
Kris Wu
Team Clippers
Anthony Anderson
Brandon Armstrong
Miles Brown
Win Butler
Common
Andre De Grasse
Stefanie Dolson
Jamie Foxx
Paul Pierce
Dascha Polanco
Quavo
Bubba Watson
Jason Williams
Now I’ll admit, I have no idea who many of these people are but I know this. You put a team with Pierce/Commno/Quavo/Jason Williams on it and I’m riding with that every single time. I know those dudes can play.
Official Pick: Team Clippers
Event #3 – 2018 3pt Contest
Now the good events. First, here are all the current odds
Klay Thompson +150
Kyle Lowry +325
Eric Gordon +400
Paul George +475
Bradley Beal +625
Wayne Ellington +700
Devin Booker +1000
Tobias Harris +1250
A lot of good value with guys like Ellington and Booker. I’m not sure if you watch a lot of Heat games, but Ellington has been absolutely nails from three this year. Eric Gordon won the event last year so you can’t go wrong with him, but guys like him and Klay are boring picks. I’m going to ride with Devin Booker. He shoots 38% on the year and just made 6 threes in his last game on Valentine’s Day so I’m going with the hot hand
Official Pick: Devin Booker
Event #4 – 2018 Skills Competition
Current odds
Joel Embiid +300
Lauri Markkanen +400
Al Horford +480
Buddy Hield +625
Andre Drummond +700
Jamal Murray +1050
Spencer Dinwiddie +1300
Big men have owned this competition the last few years, with KAT and then Porzingis the last two winners so I’m thinking more mof the same this year. Unfortunately, while immensely skilled, I think guys like Embiid and Horford are just too slow. That’s why I’m riding with Baby Dirk. If you want to go Jamal Murray I won’t turn my nose up at you, now that he’s playing PG that’s a sneaky good pick, I just think Baby Dirk has the right combination of skill and speed that can get it done
Official Pick: Baby Dirk
Event #5 – 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Current Odds
Dennis Smith Jr. -105
Victor Oladipo +150
Larry Nance Jr. +225
Donovan Mitchell +350
Now this is a great list. All these dudes are ridiculous in game dunkers so this should not disappoint. I can’t remember a time when three of the four contestants are all point guards but that just goes to show how talented they are. It seems crazy to me that Larry Nance Jr has the 3rd best odds, this event is in his blood. The guy lives life on a permanent spring board. I’m going with the guy who is the son of this man
Official Pick: Larry Nance Jr
Event #6 – 2018 NBA All Star Game
With all the injuries and replacements, here’s a quick reminder of how each side looks
Team Lebron
Kevin Durant
Kyrie Irving
Lebron James
LaMarcus Aldridge
Bradley Beal
Russell Westbrook
Victor Oladipo
Paul George
Andre Drummond
Goran Dragic
Kemba Walker
Team Curry
Steph Curry
James Harden
DeMar DeRozan
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid
Damian Lillard
Jimmy Butler
Draymond Green
Kyle Lowry
Klay Thompson
Karl Anthony Towns
Al Horford
As of now the line has this Team Lebron as -3.5 favorites even with all the injuries. I mean you lose Wall, Boogie, Porzingis, Love and one would think things would swing in Team Curry’s favor, but that’s how stacked Team Lebron is. Not only am I going Team Lebron, but I think -3.5 is way too close. I’m sure they’ll do there best to keep things close and entertaining but even still, the top tier talent of Team Lebron is still better than Team Curry. Unless Team Curry can get hot from deep, they have no shot
Official Pick: Team Lebron
Disagree with any of my picks? Well who ya got?