Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks opened as the slight betting favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com over a group of players including Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors for the Three-Point Contest set for this weekend at the NBA’s All-Star festivities at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
LaVine and Young sat as the +450 betting favourites on those NBA odds when they were released by sportsbooks on Wednesday night, ahead of Patty Mills of the Brooklyn Nets at +500, both VanVleet and Luke Kennard of the Los Angeles Clippers at +550, Desmond Bane of the Memphis Grizzlies at +600, and C.J. McCollum of the New Orleans Pelicans at +650. Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves rounded out the early lines at +950.
VanVleet sat out Toronto’s game on Wednesday night against Towns and the Timberwolves with knee soreness, and is shooting 40.1 per cent from three-point range for the Raptors this year. Kennard is the leader in the field at 43.4 per cent from three-point range on the season.
Meanwhile, Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets was listed as the early +135 betting favourite on the Slam Dunk Contest odds, ahead of Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks at +170 odds. Toppin participated in the event last year as well, losing to Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers in the finals. Cole Anthony of the Orlando Magic (+325) and Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Golden State Warriors (+475) round out this year’s Slam Dunk Contest field.
Scottie Barnes of the Raptors is set to participate in the Skills Challenge in Cleveland this weekend, and his Team Rooks was listed as the early +160 betting favourite to claim that event. Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons and Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder join Barnes on Team Rooks. Team Cavs (Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley) sit at +170 odds, with Team Antetokounmpos (Giannis, Alex, Thanasis) set at +190.
As for the All-Star Game itself, LeBron James of the Lakers is the +600 betting favourite to be named the game’s most valuable player, an award he’s already won three times in his career. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is at +650 on those betting lines, with Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers at +750, and Stephen Curry of the Warriors at +800. VanVleet opened as a longshot at +6000 to win the All-Star Game MVP award this weekend.
