The participants in the NBA’s Saturday night showcase events — the 3-Point Contest, the Dunk Contest — are officially getting announced late this season as the NBA has not found it as easy to recruit players to Salt Lake City in February as they might have hoped.
That said, Shams Charania of The Athletic leaked the names in the 3-point Contest, and as usual it is stacked:
• Jayson Tatum (Celticis)
• Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
• Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)
• Kevin Huerter (Kings)
• Tyler Herro (Heat)
• Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
• Buddy Hield (Pacers)
• Anfernee Simons (Trail Blazers)
The 3-Point Contest has become maybe the biggest draw of All-Star Saturday night partly because the stars still come out to do it (unlike the Dunk Contest). We already knew Lillard would take part, and he is joined by elite shooters and other top 10 players in the league. Guys show up for this.
Based on 3-point percentage from this season, Hield and Markkanen should be the favorites, although Huerter and Haliburton are close. However, with a deep field this could go a lot of ways — does Lillard’s clutch gene kick in for this Contest? It will be worth watching.
