NBA All-Star 3-point contest pick, odds for NBA Saturday

Madison

16 February 2024

Grant Mitchell | For FrontPageBets

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NBA All-Star Weekend has finally arrived, which means the best in the game are getting ready to compete in the 3-Point Shootout, Slam Dunk Contest, Skills Challenge and the All-Star Game.

Given that the modern NBA is all about shooting, it’s appropriate that the most anticipated event of the weekend is the 3-point contest — but who will come out on top?

Here are our favorite picks for Saturday night's event:

2024 NBA 3-Point Contest odds, preview & pick

Damian Lillard won last year’s 3-Point Contest, beating out Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton in the final round.

There are only two former winners in the field of eight contestants, those two being Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns, who won in 2022.

Here are all of the participants and their betting odds to win the 3-Point Shootout:

Lillard is the clear favorite, but he’s also shooting the worst 3-point percentage of his career this season (excluding the 29-game campaign he played in 2021-22).

Beasley has been on fire since opening night and made 44.4% of his long-range attempts, but he’s predominantly a catch-and-shoot player who isn’t used to handling the ball (or grabbing it off the rack). He also has not participated in the event before and will be inexperienced compared to the field.

Mitchell is interesting since he’s a high-volume shooter who is comfortable creating his own shot. He can run cold but can also burn red-hot and easily score 25+ points in a round if he can find his rhythm in the first couple of racks.

NBA 3-Point Contest Picks: Jalen Brunson (+750 or better)

Let’s start with why the other candidates are flawed in some way.

Lillard is having one of the worst shooting years of his career.
Haliburton only recently returned from a hamstring injury and doesn’t have his usual flow.
Young is a career 35.4% 3-point shooter.
Beasley is a catch-and-shoot guy.
Towns is a solid pick but also doesn’t have the same mobility as the smaller guards.
Mitchell is prone to cold streaks.
Markkanen is probably the worst shooter in the field and is also slower moving around the court.

Brunson is shooting 41.1% from 3 as a 6-foot shot-creating guard — that’s really hard to do.

He saved the New York Knicks on too many occasions to count and relishes the opportunity to play the hero while remaining ice cold. He’s never been in the 3-Point Shootout before but is also very familiar and comfortable with pressure.

Brunson’s shooting this season, again, as a small guard, is an indicator of how well he can shoot the ball in an open gym with no defenders around him. For these odds, he’s more than worthy of extra consideration.

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Grant is a Virginia-based writer for Catena Media who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2021 with a degree in sports media & analytics. He has contributed to well-known publications such as Forbes, and appeared on the VSiN TV network. You can keep up with Grant's work here or by checking out his YouTube channel "The Sitch With Grant Mitchell.”