NBA All-Star Weekend Betting Preview

The NBA takes a break this weekend for the all-star game and festivities, but bettors don’t need to take time off. There’s a selection of NBA All-Star Weekend futures at Bovada Sportsbook to add a little more meaning to NBA All-Star Weekend.

The three events with odds at Bovada Sportsbook on the NBA all-star schedule are the Slam Dunk Contest, the Three-Point Shootout and the Skills Challenge.

Collins slight favorite in dunk contest

Let’s start with the Slam Dunk Contest. There are four dunkers taking part this year: Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets, John Collins from the Atlanta Hawks, Hamidou Diallo from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dennis Smith Jr. from the New York Knicks. Last year’s slam dunk champion Donovan Mitchell will not be returning to defend his title.

From those four, only Smith Jr. has taken part in the contest before. Last year he failed to advance past the first round. He’s a +225 underdog to make good on his second attempt.

The slim favorite is Collins at +200. If Collins were to pull it off, it would be the fifth time a player from the Hawks has won, joining two-time winner Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb and Josh Smith.

Bridges is getting the same odds as Smith Jr. at +225, while Diallo is the biggest underdog at +300.

Booker underdog to repeat in trey fray

Moving on to the Three-Point Shootout, there’s a 10-man field in the event this year, including Devin Booker from the Phoenix Suns, the 2018 champ. He’s a +450 underdog to repeat as champ, well behind favorite Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors at +175. Curry won the shootout in 2015, but that doesn’t make him an automatic lock as he’s also lost in the shootout four times.

The only other former winner in the field this season is veteran Dirk Nowitzki from the Dallas Mavericks. He won his lone shootout title back in 2006 and is a big underdog to win again at +1500.

Other players taking another shot at the three-point contest this year include Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers at +900, Kemba Walker from the Charlotte Hornets at +900 and Khris Middleton from the Milwaukee Bucks at +1200.

Fox favored for skills event

Finally, in the Skills Challenge, eight players will take part, with only one having prior experience in the competition. That would be Nikola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets, who bowed out in the semis in 2017. He’s a +500 underdog to win it this year. Last year’s winner Spencer Dinwiddie is not returning.

The favorite in the contest is De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings at +275. Being a point guard may give Fox an edge as point guards account for 13 of the 17 all-time winners of the challenge. Other point guards in this year’s field include Trae Young from the Hawks at +450 and Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies at +500.