The Rising Stars showcase at All-Star weekend is an opportunity for the rookies and sophomores in the league to present their talents to a broader audience. These players might not get heavy minutes during the regular season, making this a great opportunity for them to shine in game action.
There are four teams in the Rising Stars event in 2024, with Pau Gasol, Tamika Catchings, Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf serving as coaches. Shrempf’s roster is comprised entirely of G League players. You can find the full rosters for each team here.
While there are no odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook for this event, we will still be making predictions on which team will win the showcase. This is essentially going to be a mini-tournament, with Team Pau playing Team Detlef and Team Tamika playing Team Jalen in the opening round. The winners advance to the championship game.
Favorite Pick: Team Jalen
There’s natural chemistry here with Thunder youngsters Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. While Holmgren is technically a rookie, he did develop behind the scenes last year and that has been evident with his play. This roster is largely comprised of second-year talents like Bennedict Mathurin, Walker Kessler and Jeremy Sochan. Shaedon Sharpe is out with an injury. Even if a talent gap exists, the extra year these players have had going up against NBA competition makes a huge difference in this scenario. I think Team Jalen is best equipped to win this event.
Darkhorse Pick: Team Pau
Team Tamika is probably the second-best roster with Magic forward Paolo Banchero headlining it but that squad faces Team Jalen right away. I think Team Pau, which is comprised entirely of rookies outside of Rockets forward Jabari Smith, has the talent advantage on Team Detlef. The top two picks in the 2023 NBA Draft are here, with Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama and Hornets guard Brandon Miller both showing nice leaps in play lately. Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski has been a rotation regular, while Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. has also performed well. I think we’ll see Team Pau and Team Jalen in the final, which means anything could happen in that final game. Typically the sophomores have an edge but this isn’t your typical rookie class.