The NBA All-Star Saturday festivities will come to a close with the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest, following the conclusion of the Kia Skills Challenge and Starry 3-Point Contest. All of this evening's events will broadcast live on TNT from the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
Continue below for our NBA picks and predictions for the All-Star Dunk Contest tonight.
NBA All-Star Dunk Contest Predictions, Picks, Odds
By Matt Moore
Stephon Castle to Win Dunk Contest (+750)
Oh, boy, we’re doing this again. OK, let’s bet it anyway. I’ll go with…
Stephon Castle +750 at FanDuel: His name visibility as a top-5 pick combined with the possibility of him incorporating Victor Wembanyama and his overall athletic style makes me confident that he can actually pull off the dunks, which is step one, and make an imprint on the judges, step two.
Do I love this field? No. McClung is going for his third straight, which is a fun narrative. Buzelis has outrageous hops and wants to win. Andre Jackson is the wild card and could just win.
But Castle is longest odds at FanDuel and second-shortest at DraftKings, so I’ll grab the value. This could quite seriously win him Rookie of the Year with how bad the field is.
PICK: Stephon Castle (+750)
Stephon Castle (+750) / Andre Jackson Jr. (+700) / Matas Buzelis (+750)
By Joe Dellera
Creating a field bet against McClung here.
Just split your wager three ways here and you’re getting around +200 on the field. Just fading Mac. I think there is likely voter fatigue after winning two straight Dunk Contests, and any of these young guys can win the crown.
Feels like bad business to have a G Leaguer win yet again.
Castle got all of the eyes winning the MVP of Rising Stars PLUS he can always bring out Wemby.
Both Jackson and Buzelis have serious bounce and have thrown down some monstrous in game dunks as well.
PICKS: Stephon Castle (+750) / Andre Jackson Jr. (+700) / Matas Buzelis (+750)
Stephon Castle to Win Dunk Contest (+750)
Betting on a greater than 2-to-1 favorite in a dunk contest feels silly.
I like Stephon Castle here at +750, even though he's the longest shot here.
He has the bounce, the energy, and hopefully, the creativity to win this.
Mainly, he has a cheat code in Victor Wembanyama as his teammate. The possibility of utilizing Wemby should legitimately consider Castle undervalued by the masses.
Plus, it's a freakin' dunk contest. Why not take a longshot?
PICK: Stephon Castle (+750)
