The NBA season has hit the break, but there are still plenty of betting opportunities. Our experts -- Preston Johnson, Doug Kezirian and Insider Andre Snellings -- are here to give their best bets for the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities in Chicago.
Records
Johnson 2-0
Schultz 3-7
Kezirian 2-3
Snellings 4-3
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.
3-point shootout
Davis Bertans (+500)
Johnson: I remember the first time I ever tweeted about the Latvian Laser. I fell in love with the Washington Wizards small forward the first time I saw him take a jumper. Here is the proof.
I can't back down now. Bertans shoots the 3-ball effortlessly. Give me the guy with the smoothest stroke that won't tire out at +500 every day. It sounds like I'm disrespecting the other shooters, but Bertans is my horse and I won't ever waver. In all reality, however, I think this is one of the best groups of shooters the 3-point contest has ever seen. It's going to be a blast.
Buddy Hield (+600)
Snellings: Prior to his injury, I had Damian Lillard as the favorite. I really like Bertrans (+500) and Lillard replacement Devin Booker (+500) as dark horses. But I'm going Hield here because he's been a 43% 3-point shooter on heavy volume during the past four seasons as a member of the Sacramento Kings.
Hield gets only 70.5% of his 3-point attempts off assists this season for the Kings, which makes him more adept at shooting without receiving the ball directly in rhythm than a guy like Bertans, who is assisted on 91.7% of his attempts. Hield also perhaps has more motivation to prove himself on the big stage after having to take on a bench role this season. Joe Harris is the defending champion, but I look for Hield to take home the title.
Devin Booker (+600)
Schultz: Experience? Check. Success? Check. Record-breaking numbers? Check. Booker has not only won the 3-point contest, but he holds the record for most points in any round and in the final round with 28.
Shooting off a rack is no easy feat, but it's made less complicated when you've done it before and had success to boot. It's even easier when you're not strictly a jump-shooter.
As I said on Daily Wager, Booker has an advantage -- as does Trae Young, for that matter -- because, while he elevates on his jump shot, he's not someone who expends very much energy in doing so, a la Bertans and Duncan Robinson. And, if that wasn't enough of a reason to bet on Book, the Phoenix Suns shooting guard is officially an All-Star now -- he should have been to begin with -- so he might as well win the shootout while he's in Chicago.
Slam dunk contest
Derrick Jones Jr. (+160)
Kezirian: Jones is the ideal participant for this contest. At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan, the Miami Heat small forward's frame lends itself to acrobatic and difficult dunks.
Aaron Gordon is understandably the favorite, given his 2016 runner-up finish, but he also did not make it past the first round in 2018. I lean toward Jones and his roughly 44-inch vertical. Dwight Howard might be the sentimental favorite, given that the late Kobe Bryant was supposed to assist with his routines. I still feel Howard's 6-foot-11 frame limits him too much, although he did win in 2008.
Jones is an athletic freak and will provide the most memorable performance.
Snellings: I'm going Jones. Aaron Gordon was part of the greatest one-on-one battle the dunk contest has seen since the previous time it was in Chicago (1988). He and Zach LaVine went to overtime with dueling repeat-50s back in 2016 in Toronto. But Gordon has struggled with various injuries since and hasn't shown the same level of explosivenes.
Dwight Howard captured the imagination 12 years ago despite being a big man, but although he's still athletic, I don't see him running that back. Pat Connaughton is a great in-game dunker with his surprising explosiveness and willingness to dunk over people -- especially off the tip-in -- but I haven't seen him exhibit the kind of creativity necessary to win the dunk contest.
But Jones? He's the total package right now. His vertical is ridiculous, he's turned in a series of iconic fly-through-the-air-while-posed dunks over the past couple of seasons that already have him on the verge of dunking legend status. It just feels like this is his time to shine.