2024 NBA Skills Challenge Odds: Format, Rosters, More for Saturday’s All-Star Event

2024 NBA Skills Challenge Odds

Saturday night's NBA All-Star festivities tip off with the Skills Challenge, which will follow the team format for the third year in a row. The action begins at 8 p.m. on TNT and the home team Indiana Pacers have the longest odds to win the challenge at FanDuel entering the weekend's festivities. Paolo Banchero, Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards as Team Top Picks, are favorites to win the 2024 NBA Skills Challenge.

Here's a look at the NBA Skills Challenge odds, rosters and rules for Saturday's showcase.

Skills Challenge Rosters

Team All-Stars

• Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
• Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
• Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

The past two years we got the Antetokounmpo brothers as a team. This season, the NBA is switching it up with a team of All Stars from the Eastern Conference. This team has arguably the most well-rounded group of passers. Young is second in the NBA in assists per game (10.9) and while Barnes (6.0) and Maxey (6.4) each rank in the top 25 among qualified players. Maxey is also one of the fastest players in the NBA with the ball in his hands and ranks sixth in the league in fast break points.

Team Pacers

• Tyrese Haliburton Clarkson, Indiana Pacers
• Bennedict Mathurin, Indiana Pacers
• Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers

The Pacers get their own team as the hosts of NBA All-Star Weekend. The host team has won this event in back-to-back years since they switched to a team format. Haliburton is the lone All Star and he is the most skilled of the group. He leads the NBA in assists per game (11.7), shoots 40% from the 3-point line, and is top-five in average speed on offense, according to NBA Advanced Stats. Turner, who shoots it well for a center, has the lowest 3-point percentage (33.6%) of the group.

Team Top Picks

• Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
• Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
• Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

This is the first year the NBA has put together a team of No. 1 overall picks. Wembanyama was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft and is -600 to win Rookie of the Year. Banchero, a first-time All Star this season, competed in the Skills Challenge last season and was the No. 1 pick in 2022. Edwards is the best shooter of the three, hitting 38.6% of his 3s this season.

Skills Challenge Format

Round 1 (Team Relay)

The first round is a timed relay, involving all three participants of the team. Each member must complete five tasks in this obstacle course:

1. Make an outlet pass at a moving target from the baseline (max: three attempts)
2. Dribble downcourt through three moving pylons.
3. Make a short shot in the lane (max: three attempts)
4. Make a left corner 3-point shot vs. automated defender (max: three attempts)
5. Dribble to opposite goal and make a basket

The team with the fastest time wins the relay round and 100 Challenge Points. If there is a tie, teams will choose one player to repeat the course.

Round 2 (Team Passing)

All three members of each team participate in the second-round passing challenge.

Over the course of 30 seconds, teams pass the ball through moving targets, which vary in both size and distance from the passers. Players cannot complete a pass into the same target on consecutive passes.

• 35-foot outlet pass, forward and back moving target (2 points)
• 20-foot bounce pass, side to side moving target (4 points)
• 25-foot chest pass, forward and back moving target (6 points)

The winning team takes the round’s challenge and 100 Challenge Points.

If there is a tie, first place goes to team with total number of passes made, second goes to total number of chest passes, third goes to total number of outlet passes.

Round 3 (Team Shooting)

All three players participate together with one ball and each team has 60 seconds to shoot from five different spots on the court.

Teams start from Spot 5 and must alternate shot locations, they cannot repeat the same shot consecutively. Each player must attempt at least one shot. Shots made from each shooting location have different values:

• Spot 1: Right side 10-foot shot outside the lane (1 point).
• Spot 2: Left elbow extended (2 points).
• Spot 3: Top of the key 3-pointer (3 points).
• Spot 4: Left corner 3-pointer (4 points).
• Spot 5: Right slot 30-foot deep 3-pointer (5 points).

The team with the highest Team Score wins the round and 200 Challenge Points. If there is a tie, teams will choose one player to shoot from Spot 5. Each player gets to attempt at least one shot. If neither player makes a shot, both participants get an additional attempt until one player makes it.

If two teams are tied with 200 points after Round 3, they go to the tiebreaker round to determine the Skill Challenge champion.

Tiebreaker (Half-Court Shot)

The first team get up to 90 seconds to make a half court shot and sets the time for Team 2 if they go under that time. If the second team can hit a half-court shot in less time than Team 1, then Team 2 is the champion.