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NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back

Adam Thompson for Bookies.com

Adam Thompson  | 7 mins

NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back

NBA All-Star Weekend puts on a midseason show that NBA betting fans can excited about. It’ a true showcase of the best the game has to offer. The players get competitive, too, which make it an intriguing weekend of betting possibilities. Action begins with Friday night’s Rising Stars Challenge, followed by Saturday’s Skills Challenge and 3-Point Shootout among the highlights, and of course the All-Star Game on Sunday.

Here are my winners and darkhorses to consider for the marquee betting events at NBA All-Star Weekend, starting with who will win the NBA All-Star Game MVP. As of Friday, no NBA Dunk Contest odds have been posted.

NBA All-Star Weekend Best Bets

MarketBet Odds
All-Star MVPLeBron James+450
Bet it at Unibet
Rising Stars MVPZion Williamson+350
Bet it at FOXBet
Skills ChallengeKhris Middleton+450
Bet it at Unibet
3-Point ContestBuddy Hield+750
Bet it at FOXBet

All odds current as of publication. You can check out the latest NBA futures here.

RELATED: Check out our Free Daily Expert NBA Picks and compare all the top sportsbooks’ latest NBA odds


2020 All-Star Game MVP Odds

NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back 1
LeBron James could be the MVP - or help facilitate the winner.
PlayerOdds
Giannis Antetokounmpo +400
LeBron James +450
Anthony Davis +650
Russell Westbrook +1000
Kemba Walker +1200
Joel Embiid +1400
James Harden +1400
Kawhi Leonard +2000
Donovan Mitchell +2000
Paskal Siakam +2000
Khris Middleton +2500
Kyle Lowry +2500
Trae Young +2500
Devin Booker +3000

The MVP almost surely will come from the winning team, and on paper, Team LeBron looks like the clear favorite. That eliminates everyone from Team Giannis.

Winner: Nobody exclusively trained outside the U.S. has ever won All-Star MVP. That keeps Sabonas (Gonzaga) on the list but knocks out a pair of legit contenders in Doncic and Jokic.

Lakers players have won a record 11 MVPs. One more MVP in this game for King James ties him with Bob Pettit and, ahem, Kobe Bryant on the all-time list. If LeBron plays like he wants it – and he usually does in this classic – the notion of honoring Kobe is more than enough motivation to make me believe he’s going to get it.

Darkhorse: What if Team Giannis wins? There are some great values on that team. It doesn’t take long to find a player who may go out with the MVP goal on his mind. Young is just brash enough to want to take this game over and cement his status as an NBA star. He’s averaging 29.7 ppg and 9.1 apg and has the skillset to take the game over if his shots fall.

From Team LeBron: If James, who leads the NBA in assists, feels generous and wants to share the love, look for Booker. The player-wide consensus is Booker got initially robbed of an All-Star bid, and he’ll get plenty of looks from teammates to prove they were right.

2020 Rising Stars MVP Odds

NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back 2
Will there be a lot of sentiment to reward Zion Williamson for his return from injury?
PlayerOdds
Trae Young +350
Zion Williamson +350
Luka Doncic +450
Ja Morant +500
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +650
Deandre Ayton +650
RJ Barrett +800
Jaren Jackson Jr. +850
Devonte Graham +1000

The top freshmen and sophomores make the pool of players for Friday’s headlining event between Team World and Team USA. It includes Luka Doncic for World and Zion Williamson and Trae Young for USA.

Winner: The MVP the last five years has been the player that not only comes from the winning team, it’s the one with the most points and most shot attempts. In other words, the player makes a point of taking over – and it leads to victory.

For Team World, Doncic is a clear choice when it comes to shooting prowess and take-over mentality. For Team USA, it’s a little murkier. How about Williamson? The high-flying Pelicans big man will be showcased by his teammates and opponents will get out of the way and let him do his thing – because they want to see it, too.

Darkhorse: Devonte Graham might be the best shooter in the field. He’s in the 3-Point Shootout on Saturday. If defense is lacking in the game – and it probably will be – players should find themselves with a bevy of open looks. Graham has as much potential to hit a pile of 3’s as anyone.

2020 NBA Skills Challenge Odds

NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back 3
Khris Middleton is a sharp-shooter, an elite ball-handler ... and an interesting bet.
PlayerOdds
Spencer Dinwiddie +450
Khris Middleton +450
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +500
Jayson Tatum +500
Patrick Beverley +600
Pascal Siakam +600
Bam Adebayo +1000
Domantas Sabonis +1000

Tatum is back to defend his Skills Challenge title, and he faces a wide array of guards and forwards. Five players in the field will also be in the All-Star Game on Sunday. Tatum is the only returning competitor from last year, though Dinwiddie won the event in 2018 and Beverley won it in 2015.

Winner: Middleton is a 6-foot-8, ball-handling, sharp-shooter. He’s the top 3-pointer shooter in the field, and any time he might lose vs. agile guards like Beverley he should make up in shooting.

Darkhorse: Dinwiddie is the top player in the field when it comes to assist-to-pass ratio and the next-gen stat of potential assists. In other words, he makes on-target passes better than anyone else. His 3-point shooting is a concern (31%), but if he cans his attempts, he can be there at the end.

2020 3-Point Contest Odds

NBA All-Star Game 2020 Betting Guide, Odds & 4 Picks to Back 4
Could Buddy Hield suprise the field and win the 3-point contest?
PlayerOdds
Joe Harris +320
Trae Young +320
Devin Booker +400
Duncan Robinson +500
Davis Bertans +550
Buddy Hield +750
Zach LaVine +900
Devonte Graham +1300

It’s a stacked lineup. Six of the eight players in the field rank in the top 8 of 3-pointers made per game. The two that don’t are Harris – the event’s defending champion – and former champion Booker.

Winner: Nobody has repeated as champion since 2008. It not only takes a solid shooter to win, it takes a level of clutch play and endurance. This is the event stars win, with Booker, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving among the winners the last seven years.

Booker, who replaces the injured Damian Lillard and has won it before, is a safe first-glance wager. But his 3-point numbers are down this year. He’s averaging only 1.9 3’s per game on 35.4% shooting, ranking last in both categories in this field.

Instead, find another budding star: No, not Young, but Hield, who among these eight players ranks third in percentage and second in 3’s made. Hield has been lights out shooting the trey lately, including a 9-of-10 effort against the Spurs last Saturday, a 6-of-13 performance vs. the Lakers the week before and a 9-of-14 explosion vs. the Timberwolves the week before that. He’s offering great odds as a darkhorse.

About the Author

Adam Thompson for Bookies.com
Adam Thompson
NFL writer and expert Adam Thompson joined Bookies.com in 2019 after a successful run as senior handicapper for SportsLine and CBSSports.com. He's long been established as one of the nation's premier handicappers, specializing in the NFL where he's hit on more than 60% over the past three years. Adam's NBA, PGA and horse racing picks have also produced major winners over the last 12 months. His customized NFL and NBA odds for players and teams have been picked up by hundreds of websites over the past year.