2024 NBA All-Star Game: Rising Stars Tournament Odds & Picks (Friday)

The Association will hold its annual Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night with G-League players, NBA rookies and sophomores.

Four teams will be in the Tournament, including Team Pau, Team Tanika, Team Jalen and Team Detlef.

Team Detlef consists of only G-League players. However, Pau Gasol, Tamika Catchings and Jalen Rose drafted the other three teams with NBA first and second-year NBA players.

The Draft results are below per NBA.com. Keep scrolling for our best bet in the Rising Stars Tournament.

Team Pau

Victor Wembanyama (Rookie, San Antonio Spurs)
Brandon Miller (Rookie, Charlotte Hornets)
Brandin Podziemski (Rookie, Golden State Warriors)
Jaime Jaquez. Jr. (Rookie, Miami Heat)
Jabari Smith Jr. (Sophomore, Houston Rockets)
Cason Wallace (Rookie, Oklahoma City Thunder)
Bilal Coulibaly (Rookie, Washington Wizards)

Team Tamika

Paolo Banchero (Sophomore, Orlando Magic)
Jaden Ivey (Sophomore, Detroit Pistons)
Jalen Duren (Sophomore, Detroit Pistons)
Keegan Murray (Sophomore, Sacramento Kings)
Scoot Henderson (Rookie, Portland Trail Blazers)
Keyonte George (Rookie, Utah Jazz)
Dyson Daniels (Sophomore, New Orleans Pelicans)

Team Jalen

Chet Holmgren (Rookie, Oklahoma City Thunder)
Jalen Williams (Sophomore, Oklahoma City Thunder)
Bennedict Mathurin (Sophomore, Indiana Pacers)
Dereck Lively II (Rookie, Dallas Mavericks)
Jordan Hawkins (Rookie, New Orleans Pelicans)
Walker Kessler (Sophomore, Utah Jazz)
Jeremy Sochan (Sophomore, San Antonio Spurs)

Team Detlef

Izan Almansa (G League Ignite)
Matas Buzelis (G League Ignite)
Ron Holland (G League Ignite)
Mac McClung (Osceola Magic)
Tyler Smith (G League Ignite)
Oscar Tshiebwe (Indiana Mad Ants)
Alondes Williams (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

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Rising Stars Tournament Best Bet

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All wagers are for 1 unit

This new format for the NBA Rising Stars Tournament will feature three mini-tournament games among the four teams.

These three games will be played to a final target score, meaning the game will end on a made basket. The two semifinal games will have a final target score of 40, and the final game will have a target score of 25 to determine a champion.

Until the mini-games are completed, we won’t know which teams are playing who in the tournament. However, it’s unlikely Team Detlef, with G-League players, will win the tournament.

Team Pau is the odds-on favorite, standing at +145 to win the tournament. Pau Gasol had the first pick and selected Victor Wembanyama. He also added second-overall pick Brandon Miller and has some other incredible talent like Brandin Podziemski and Jaime Jaquez Jr. It’s clear that Gasol has the most talented roster.

Meanwhile, Team Tamika has an exciting squad. She’ll likely start Scoot Henderson, Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray, Paolo Banchero and Jalen Duren. The fact she has two Detroit Pistons players scares me. However, those two players are terrific athletes on a bad team. Tamika might have a more balanced starting lineup than Team Pau. However, Team Tamika is at +200 to win.

Finally, Team Jalen added two Thunder players with his first selections, including Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. He’s got a bunch of shot blockers between Holmgren, Dereck Lively II and Walker Kessler. Still, he’ll need Jeremy Sochan and Williams to facilitate the offense. They’ll have no problems defending the paint, but what about defending and scoring from the perimeter? That might be an issue.

Therefore, I’ll roll with Team Tamika. They have a good balance and more sophomores than the other two teams.

Bet: Team Tamika (+200)

Make sure to check out our other best bets for Friday: