Who you should bet on at the 2016 NBA All Star weekend

The NBA All Star weekend is a celebration of all things basketball – where we get to see the very best players show off their skills.

Punters can bet on every exotic event this weekend, which includes the slam dunk contest, three-point contest, skills challenge and the All Star Game on Sunday.

We’ll take a look at the markets and give the best betting options across all the competitions. Kicking off is the always-excited Slam Dunk contest where high-flyer Zach LaVine looks to retain his title after wowing the crowd last year.

Steph Curry is the favorite for the three point shooting contest, which involves some sharp shooters from around the league, and the Isaiah Thomas heads the betting for the Skills Challenge.

All the markets are up at WilliamHill.com where punters are getting the best All Star odds available.

All Star Slam Dunk betting

Zach LaVine -250
Aaron Gordon +500
Will Barton +500
Andre Drummond +1200

Zach LaVine came from nowhere to win the 2015 Slam Dunk contest and he’s the hot favorite to defend his title. The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard doesn’t have the credentials in the NBA to be a major scoring threat, but his ability to jump high is incredible.

The Slam Dunk contest might be a bit different than what it used to be, but players are still being creative and Zach LaVine likes to throw a little something different into the mix. There are a few interesting players in the contest this year, but if LaVine can bring something different, he should be tough to beat.

Not many people would have heard of second favorite Aaron Gordon, but he has been well backed at +500 with WilliamHill.com. The former Arizona small forward, now with the Orlando Magic, has thrown down plenty of dunks this season, but he’s a big guy and whether he has the creativity to win is another question. We’re prepared to risk Gordon at that price.

Will Barton is an interesting selection. The Nuggets shooting guard has plenty of ups and he has the mold of former dunk contest winners. The Nuggets are coming off a win heading into the All Star break and that will give Barton plenty of confidence heading into this. Barton is our value pick at +500, but he will still need to bring his best against LaVine.

Three-point shooting contest market

This three-point shooting contest should be plenty of fun. The splash brothers will be competing against each other with Steph Curry the more favored option at +120. Fellow Golden State teammate Klay Thompson is the second elect by bookmakers at +450 and it should get the crowd pumping.

Curry and Thompson have been lighting it up from behind the three-point line all season and now they get their chance to show who’s better. It would be great if both players could make the final, but we’ll just have to leave that to chance.

Their rivals include J.J Redick who can fire up from three-point land and he’s a big danger in this contest. Redick doesn’t use much movement in his shooting technique which is optimum for winning this contest. It’s all about getting your shots off quickly and along with Curry and Thompson, Redick has that ability.

Some of the longer odds chances include James Harden, Khris Middleton and Chris Bosh, but we think they’re just making up the numbers. We don’t know why Chris Bosh has entered as he’s not exactly deadly from the three, so discount his chances and stick with the top three.

We like Curry to continue to dazzle the NBA fans at +120 with WilliamHill.com.

Skills Challenge best bets

Isaiah Thomas +300
Patrick Beverley +400
C.J McCollum +450
Jordan Clarkson +450
Draymond Green +550
Anthony Davis +800
DeMarcus Cousins +1200
Karl-Anthony Towns +1200

Current favorite Isaiah Thomas is a good all-round player that has passing and shooting ability, as well as good dribbling skills. That’s what will be needed to win the skills challenge and he has been a popular choice with bettors this week.

Houston Rockets’ Patrick Beverley has also been well supported at +400 which is a touch surprising for us. He has obvious ability, but he’s on a very low salary and his credentials don’t match up to some of these.

We’re looking towards Draymond Green who is very nimble for a big man. The Golden State player has ability all over the court and at +550, that’s a good enough price to take a risk on. The Warriors’s players could well dominate the All Star break and Green is a good chance in this.

Despised outsider Karl-Anthony Towns is a +1200 chance, but he’s coming off a huge game before the break and his confidence will be sky high. He could be worth a sneaky bet at massive odds.