2020
Preview/Predictions
Do you think about me now and then? Do you think about me now and then? Cuz I'm coming home again.
NBA All-Star Weekend is back in my hometown of Chicago, baby, and 2020 marks the first time the Second City has hosted in my lifetime. I've been waiting a long time for this. Here's how I see this weekend going down:
Friday Night (Feb. 14)
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Rising Stars Game
First of all, I love how the NBA named Wendell Carter Jr. as a participant even though he's hurt, just so they have an excuse to sneak Zion in here. Let's face it—regardless of whether or not he deserves to be in here, Zion is the big draw for this game. He's the guy even casual fans know and he's the first name you look for when checking these rosters. We all know he's coming off a knee injury that kept him out of the entire first half of the season, so he'll likely be kept on a minutes restriction. I don't expect him to put up MVP numbers, but Zanos will definitely still have an impact on this game as he overpowers these other rooks with a snap of his fingers.
He'll be a ton of fun to watch as he reunites with his former AAU teammate and clear front-runner for Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant. Memphis already rolled out the carpet for him to be the face of their franchise and so far he's been living up to the hype and then some. You can just tell that Morant loves to hoop and his creativity stems from years of doing it on the hardwood, blacktop, or wherever he gets his runs in. His crafty style of play is perfect for Rising Stars and he doesn't back down from anybody on the court or social media.
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Luka Doncic and Trae Young are definitely the best players in this game, but don't expect them to go too hard Friday. Both of them got starting nods for the real All-Star game Sunday night, so they're be saving their energy for then—especially Luka, who's nursing an sprained ankle.
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Someone you should be looking out for on the World team is second-year shooting guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. After the Paul George trade in July, everybody expected the Thunder to go into a full rebuild as they traded away their two best players and were poised sit on their 15 future first round picks. But Chris Paul doesn't want to die in Oklahoma and SGA must be trying to make a name for himself, because they've come out and proven themselves as one of the best backcourts in the West. Shai is doing everything at a high level this season—including hitting game winners and breaking scoring records for Canadians. He'll be a starter for the foreign squad and making some noise in Friday night's contest.
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But when it comes down to who's going to win this game, I gotta go with the Americans. With hot rookies like Charlotte's Devonte' Graham and Miami's Kendrick Nunn, I don't see anyone from the World Team who can keep up with the U.S.'s scoring ability. They'll be raining treys in supporting roles to Ja Morant's MVP performance.
My pick to win: U.S. Team
My pick for MVP: Ja Morant
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Would've loved to see: Jaxson Hayes
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The Pelicans' first year big man has been putting fools on posters since Summer League and I would've loved to see him in a game where dunks come easier than jumpers. Unfortunately when the rosters got announced and Hayes saw that his name wasn't included, he took to social media and told the NBA to "s*** his d***." The dude is only averaging a whopping 8 and 4, so this move was pretty bonkers if you ask me. He might've had a chance at being a named a reserve but that ain't gonna happen anymore.
Saturday Night (Feb. 15)
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Skills Challenge
People overlook this event, but it's been really competitive ever since they expanded the field to eight participants and lined them up head-to-head. Here's a quick breakdown of what you can expect from each player:
Spencer Dinwiddie:
The 2018 champ didn't get invited back to the defend his crown last year—talk about disrespectful. Dinwiddie is one of the most slept-on guards in the game today and will look to prove the doubters wrong. He's just lucky this event doesn't involve playing defense.
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Patrick Beverley:
Pat Bev is another former champ (from back in 2015) and was forced to bow out in 2016 due to injury and never got a chance to defend his crown either. Bev is a dog and will scrap his way through this tournament by any means necessary. He once stole Anthony Davis' shoe during a game when he wasn't even on the floor.
Last time I checked there's no rule against making physical contact with your opponent during this challenge, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Bev take a swipe at someone.
Bam Adebayo:
Bam is that all-around, undersized big man we all love to see. He's been having a breakout year doing a lot of everything for a white-hot Heat team. With an onomatopoeia name like BAM, let's hope he ZOOMS, BOINGS, SPLASHES, and SWOOSHES, and not SCREECHES, THUDS, CLANGS, or DINGS. (I'm so sorry)
Domantas Sabonis:
Sabonis has been well-groomed by his Hall of Fame father, Arvydas, in Lithuania, played professionally in Spain as a teenager, and competed collegiately at Gonzaga (the mecca for foreign hoopers in the NCAA)—so you know his fundamentals are on point. The training is done. Now it's time for him to produce.
Khris Middleton:
If Middleton hits the 3-point shot but no one is awake to see it, does it really count? He's a great shooter for the best team in the NBA, but I can't think of a more boring player to have in this contest. He'll be fine, I guess.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
SGA plays with a composed swagger you don't see from a lot of young guns. He already got his first career triple-double under his belt this season, so you know he has the skillz that killz.
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Pascal Siakam:
Spicy P is still rolling after winning his first chip last season and he's leading a Toronto team that many didn't expect to be back in the hunt so soon. I'm not feeling him for this contest though, as his long frame seems like it'll be a hazard when weaving between obstacles. Envisioning his gangly arms trying to make a chest pass through the first target makes me think of those punching pens and how fragile they are.
Jayson Tatum:
Tatum is the reigning champ after breaking the system and banking in a half-court three to erase Trae Young's lead in the finals last year. He's been solid for the C's ever since he came into the league and has only gotten better since last year. Tatum will come in with a target on his back as the rest of the field strives to steal his throne.
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This contest is honestly open for anyone to win, but since it's in Chicago I gotta go with the hometown guy, Pat Beverley. A lot of guys play it too cool in this contest, but Bev goes full maniac anytime he's on the court.
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My pick to win: Patrick Beverley
Hate to see you go: Derrick Rose
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Guhhhh. D-Rose was supposed to be in this but won't compete now due to injury (replaced by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). He's having his best season since his MVP year (his Per 36 stats are actually better now than from his 2010-11 season if you can believe it) but he's stuck on a Detroit team that has already thrown in the towel this year. Rose won this thing his rookie year and would've won it again this year in front of his hometown crowd. Chicago was ready for that moment, but his brittle body wasn't.
3-Point Contest
In recent years, the Three-Point Contest has been more star-studded than any other event...but this is not one of those years. While there are only a couple All-Stars in the mix, these eight guys are objectively some of the game's top shooters regardless of name recognition and their inclusion is well deserved.
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Brooklyn's Joe Harris, the dark-horse champ from 2019, is back and looking to become the seventh player in All-Star history to win in back-to-back years. He is joined by another unassuming white guy—Miami's second year sharpshooter, Duncan Robinson. Seriously—based off his looks—is there a less intimidating player in the league right now than him?
Robinson is the guy you hate to lose to because the whole time you're thinking, "there's no way this guy is better than me." He didn't even have any D1 offers coming out of high school, but he's been torching nets ever since and averaging 44.1% from deep this season, so the kid is actually legit.
Zach LaVine is finally showing up at All-Star weekend again but he's in the wrong contest (more on that later), and Sacramento's Buddy Hield is back for his annual sole appearance on national television. Accompanying them for the first time in this contest is sophomore guard, Devonte' Graham, who is having a heck of a year filling the gap that Kemba left in Charlotte while sinking 3.5 triples per game.
Something new and very fun that's being added to this year's contest are the two "MTN DEW Zones" stationed six feet behind the three-point line. Each zone has a green ball worth 3 points (opposed to the normal 1-point balls and 2-point money balls in the traditionally positioned racks).
With the inclusion of the deeper shot, it makes sense to pick someone like Trae Young who typically takes threes from longer range—or even a proven winner like 2018 champ, Devin Booker—but I have a hunch about the kid from DC, Davis Bertans.
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Bertans is averaging 3.6 treys on 42.9% shooting from downtown, so it's no wonder why they call him the Latvian Laser. He hit 6 bombs in a single half this season and has the stone cold demeanor of serial killer. Bertans will be out for blood Saturday Night, so pay attention.
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My pick to win: Davis Bertans
Early invite for next year: Karl-Anthony Towns
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The game has evolved and big men are expected to develop a long range game now too. No one has done this better than Karl-Anthony Towns. With a 3.3 3pg average, Towns isn't just a good shooter for a center—he's a good shooter period. If he boosts his free-throw percentage a little bit, he can become a member of the prestigious 50-40-90 club. Let's get KAT in the contest next year so the world can take notice.
Slam Dunk Contest
This is a good field. There's one person who could've made it better, but this'll do.
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The first dunker to accept his invite to the contest was none other than the 2008 champ, Dwight Howard. Dwight is having a surprisingly good comeback season after accepting a bench role on the Lakers and is the only former winner in this year's field, sporting a 1-2 overall record.
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When it comes to the dunk contest, Dwight is a guy who gets it. He picks dunks that show off his athleticism, uses his creativity to think of dunks that are outside the box, and above all else is an excellent showman. Superman hasn't put on his cape in over a decade, but by the looks of it, he hasn't lost any bounce. I grew up a huge Dwight fan when he was in his prime with the Magic, so I'm excited to see him pick up where he left off. You can tell this is something he's been looking forward to and winning it would really solidify his comeback year.
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On a sad note, Dwight had successfully convinced Kobe to assist him on one of his dunks before the Mamba's untimely death last month. The fact that we'll never see those two reunite is heartbreaking, as it surely would've made for a classic All-Star moment.
Derrick Jones Jr. has been making a name for himself on a Heat team that is arguably the frontrunner in the East (especially since the trade deadline) and is carrying a bit of momentum into his second dunk contest. Yes, that's right, this is not Jones' first go-around. He actually made it to the finals in 2017 when he was barely a member of the Suns (he had gotten called up from the G League and hadn't even dunked in a game yet) before ultimately losing to Glenn Robinson III in what was a pretty forgettable contest.
With long arms and crazy hops, Jones has shown a lot of promise pulling off difficult dunks both in games and in lay up lines, but nothing we haven't seen before. If this guy came around 15 years ago people would know his name. Nowadays you need to be more innovative in order to truly stand out.
The fans wanted Morant or LaVine, instead we got Pat Connaughton. Most people were extremely confused when he was named the fourth and final participant, but I immediately thought back to the 2014 NBA Draft Combine when Connaughton recorded a 44 inch vertical jump. It's cliche to call a white guy "sneaky athletic" so I'll just say that his physical talent often go under the radar...
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At 6'5" he's the shortest dunk in this year's competition—which he'll use to his advantage when showing off his leaping prowess Saturday night. Connaughton will be able to make difficult dunks actually look difficult, but based off what I've seen from him in games, his biggest question mark is his creativity. After scouring the interweb looking for the coolest Pat Connaughton highlight I could find, this is the best I could come up with:
While I think this year's contest has the potential to be a great show, the clear favorite going into it has to be Aaron Gordon. His overtime duel with LaVine from 2016 was the greatest dunk battle ever and many think he should've taken home the crown that night. Air Gordon is a freak athlete who dunks on expert difficulty, and his biggest strength is his cockiness, as he in unafraid to attempt any dunk. This actually backfired on him in 2017 when he got a little too cute with a drone and couldn't flush an under-the-legs 360, but he was coming off a foot injury so he wasn't dunking at 100%.
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Gordon is healthy this year, and keep in mind he plays for the Magic—so he's had plenty of time to prepare for this.
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My pick to win: Aaron Gordon
What are you doing???: Zach LaVine
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The fact that LaVine turned down his invite to the dunk contest is such a slap in the face to NBA fans, the city of Chicago, and his own legacy. Dude, we get it, you want to be known as a good player—not just a dunker—but when you're the best dunker of your generation AND All-Star weekend is being held in your team's city AND the guy who catapulted your career already committed AND you play for the Bulls so this is literally all you have going for you in the foreseeable future, YOU HAVE TO DO IT.
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You know who else is still revered as a dunker even though he's a shoo-in Hall of Famer? Vince Carter. Cementing your legacy in the dunk contest means you'll still be a fan favorite even when you're averaging 5.2 ppg for a terrible Atlanta Hawks team and are over a decade past your prime. LaVine would be lucky to have half the legacy that Vince does but he's squandering the opportunity.
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He said he wouldn't dunk unless he made the All-Star team this year, and since his stats are passable I was half-expecting the NBA to give him the nod just so that he'd be a lock for this contest. Honestly, @AdamSilver, why didn't you do that? David Stern (RIP) would've done it in a heartbeat for the ratings. No wonder they're down this year.
Sunday Night (Feb. 16)
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69th Annual All-Star Game
Just like last year, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo were voted as captains and hand picked their 12-man rosters so that the game wouldn't be strictly East vs. West. This is a great idea, except they didn't really mix it up to much...
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Literally all the starters for Team LeBron are from the West, and all of Giannis' starters are from the East. The majority of the reserves remained East vs. West too, so this whole playground pickup idea was thrown out the window. I don't think the captains did this on purpose, but it is hilarious how the NBA is being hush about it.
Here's the full breakdown of the draft order:
Nothing too surprising. LeBron took Anthony Davis right away, Khris Middleton was again picked way too soon, and Giannis proved that he should never ever become a GM when he's done playing basketball.
I love the guys on Giannis' team and I'm rooting for them to win (mainly because I hate LeBron), but these rosters are lopsided yet again. The All-Star game always comes down to the starters, and Team LeBron's guys are the proven unit.
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Something very different about this year's game is the new format which includes the score resetting after every quarter and playing to a "target score" at the end of the game that honors Kobe Bryant. The new rules are as follows:
If you had to re-read this a couple times and are still scratching your head trying to figure out what all it means, just know that you're like every other NBA in thinking that THIS IS SO STUPID. Switching to the Team Captains format two years ago already fixed the competitiveness issue. Back in 2014 they made major changes to the format of the dunk contest and it failed miserably, so why are they trying to re-invent the wheel again? I think it's great that they're playing for charity and trying to honor Kobe, but the best way to do that is to play hard for 48 minutes and the team who scores the most points wins. Don't do anything that going to confuse fans or give us less action with an untimed fourth quarter that potentially will only last up to 24 points.
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The only good aspect of this new format is that with no clock, the contest will ultimately end on a game winner. And who better to hit that game winner than my pick for MVP—Damian Lillard.
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UPDATE (02.13.19) - - - After straining his groin Wednesday night Dame has been ruled out of all All-Star weekend events (except his musical performance as DAME D.O.L.L.A. on Saturday night). With the hottest player in NBA taking a seat, the next player in line for Team LeBron has to be Anthony Davis.
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LeBron has been trying to pass the torch to AD ever since he became a Laker, so I see LeBron making him the centerpiece of the offense and feeding lobs to the one starter who's gonna hang in the paint. Not to mention he's from Chicago, so that's all the motivation he'll need to put on a show for his hometown.
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My pick to win: Team LeBron
My pick for MVP: Anthony Davis
You have every right to be upset: Bradley Beal
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Devin Booker wanted to cry about it when he was initally left off the reserves list, but he chases stats in garbage time and plays zero defense. The player I actually feel sorry for is Bradley Beal. He's putting up monster numbers (29.2 ppg, 6.3 apg, 4.5rpg) for an 18-32 Wizards squad that's missing its other franchise player and getting no love for it.
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I understand the inclusion of Kyle Lowry and Khris Middleton since they're contributing to teams with great records, but when I tune in to watch the All-Star game I want to see players who will put on a show. Since being snubbed, Beal has averaged 37 ppg and hit a game winner against the Mavs. What's more entertaining than that?
Those are my picks, now please tell me yours! Go to the Vote page to select who you think will win. Voting will get you entered into the People's Picks page where winners receive prizes. What are the prizes you ask? Win to find out!
You can also join the discussion by explaining your picks below (which is way more fun). I love hearing other people's takes and expanding this blog with your analysis. Let the comments begin!