NBA All-Star Weekend will begin this Friday, Feb. 14, with what could end up being the most exciting event of the slate: The Rising Stars Tournament.
Four teams featuring some of the league’s premier young talent, including Amen Thompson and Stephon Castle will take the floor in a three-game tournament and compete for the title of Rising Stars champions.
The winning team will earn the right to be led by Candace Parker, becoming Team Candace as the fourth squad in the NBA All-Star Game tournament.
Here’s a look at the latest NBA Rising Stars odds and the best bets to make ahead of the event.
All NBA odds for Rising Stars are courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook, current as of Thursday, Feb. 13, at 9 a.m. ET.
NBA Rising Stars Odds
- Team Mitch Richmond (+160)
- Team Chris Mullin (+210)
- Team Jeremy Lin (+280)
- Team Tim Hardaway (+470)
Team Mitch is headlined by an emerging star in Rockets’ forward Amen Thompson, which is why they’re favored at (+160) odds. But don’t sleep on Team Chris (+210), led by by NBA Rookie of the Year favorite Stephon Castle.
Team Jeremy’s roster is made up entirely of G League players, but their (+280) odds are ahead of Team Tim (+470), which boasts the top two picks in this year’s draft in Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr.
NBA Rising Stars Rosters
Team Mitch — Coached by Mitch Richmond
- Toumani Camara, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Scoot Henderson, Yves Missi, Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson
Team Chris — Coached by Chris Mullin
- Stephon Castle, Ryan Dunn, Zach Edey, Keyonte George, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Dalton Knecht, Jaylen Wells
Team Jeremy (G League Players) — Coached by Jeremy Lin
- JD Davison, Mac McClung, Bryce McGowens, Leonard Miller, Dink Pate, Reed Sheppard, Pat Spencer
Team Tim — Coached by Tim Hardaway
- Anthony Black, Tristan da Silva, Gradey Dick, Jaime Jaquez Jr, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Cason Wallace
NBA Rising Stars Best Bet
Team Mitch (+160)
FanDuel Sportsbook • WAGER: 1 Unit
I’m riding with Team Mitch as my NBA Rising Stars Best Bet because I’m a big believer in Amen Thompson.
The Rockets’ forward provides elite defense with an all-around offensive game, averaging 13.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 54.6% from the field.
It will be fun to watch Amen play with his brother Ausar, who has also shown improvement, scoring in double figures in seven consecutive games leading up to the All-Star break.
Lock in Team Mitch at (+160) with your NBA bet of the day.
NBA Rising Stars Contenders
Team Chris (+210)
FanDuel Sportsbook • WAGER: 0.5 Units
My alternate pick to win the NBA Rising Stars tournament is Team Chris because I’m a huge fan of Stephon Castle.
This is a rookie who went fourth overall in this past year’s draft. The former UConn standout is averaging 12.9 points per game on the season and 18.0 points in February.
Castle is also competing in the Slam Dunk contest. There’s a chance that the Spurs’ guard will put on a show.
Check out the rest of our NBA All-Star predictions and best bets:
- NBA Skills Challenge
- NBA 3-Point Contest
- NBA Dunk Contest
- NBA All-Star Game
- NBA All-Star Game Props
- NBA All-Star Game MVP
NBA Rising Stars Format
The NBA Rising Stars Tournament is a mini-tournament with three matches in total: two semifinals and one championship. This competition features rookies and sophomores along with G League players.
Team Chris will take on Team Tim in the first round, while Team Jeremy will go at it with Team Mitch. The winners will face each other in the finals.
For each semifinal game, the target score is 40 points. In the finals, each team will compete to see who can hit 25 points first.
The winning team will join the All-Star Game mini-tournament, led by honorary GM Candace Parker.
