Scottie Barnes and Alex Antetokounmpo were named to compete in the skills competition today, and Fred VanVleet was named to the three-point contest. Ahh, hell yeah.
Barnes will play on a skills team with Cade Cunningham and Josh Giddey. They’ll compete against the Cleveland Cavaliers — Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen — as well as the three Antetokounmpo brothers — Giannis, Alex, and Thanasis. My money is on the rookies because rookies are always try-hards, probably not knowing enough to be cool about it. Then again the Antetokounmpo brothers are all try-hards, too. And the Cavaliers are representing their actual NBA franchise! Maybe it’ll actually be a fun competition after all.
VanVleet will compete against Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, Zach LaVine, CJ McCollum, Patty Mills, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Trae Young. Some good shooters there, but VanVleet has to be the odds-on favourite. He’s second in the league in three-point attempts, at 9.9 per game. And he’s connecting at 39.6 percent. The next leader in the attempts category who equals or matches his accuracy is Gary Trent jr., 17th in per-game attempts.
The Raptors will be well represented at All-Star weekend. Barnes and Antetokounmpo will of course join VanVleet, who’ll be taking part in the main event. And Barnes and Achiuwa will play in the Rising Stars game. Should be a fun weekend.
