NBA

The 2023 Jordan Rising Stars draft results are in as Paolo Banchero was chosen first by Team Pau

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Antonio Kozlow
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Antonio Kozlow Sports Editor

Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.

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Sports Editor

Updated08 Feb 2023

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The annual showcase for the NBA’s most exciting young talent is almost here, as the best rookies, sophomores, and a select group of stars from the G-League will entertain and inspire us foreseeing the future of basketball as they will be a part of the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars mini-tournament to start on February 19th for the All-Star weekend.

However, we were still one step away from having all our information complete before tip-off at Utah’s Vivint Arena, as the 28 players chosen for the contests still had to be drafted by the honorary coaches chosen by the NBA this year.

Finally, the former All-Stars made their picks, and we can already start to imagine some thrilling exchanges from these young stars on court. Let’s start by Paul Gasol’s draft, as he now rests at ease with current leader of the Kia MVP Rookie Ladder Paolo Banchero is at his side.

The former Los Angeles Lakers star will coach a team that includes Pacer’s Bennedict Mathurin, Jaden Ivey from the Pistons, reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, New Orleans’ Jose Alvarado, Rookie of the Month Keegan Murray, Andrew Nembhard from Indiana, and of course the magic of Orlando’s Paolo Banchero.

What a squad for the Spaniard!

Former All-Star Deron Williams, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, also cannot complain about his draft results, as his first pick was Magic’s Franz Wagner. His team is completed by Jalen Green from the Rockets, Turkish international Alperen Sengün, in-form Trey Murphy III from New Orleans, the Hawks’ AJ Griffin, Bones Hyland all the way from Denver, and finally Utah representative Walker Kessler.

As for the 2013 best defender in the NBA, Joakim Noah has probably the least “stars” in his roster, but as a whole his seven-player squad is strong overall. As Cavaliers Evan Mobley was his first pick, then followed both Thunder’s Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams, Jeremy Sochan from San Antonio, Knicks’ Quentin Grimes and NBA Rookie of the Year candidates Jabari Smith Jr. from the Rockets and Pistons’ Jalen Duren.

The current Utah Jazz assistant Jason Terry is to lead the G-League roster into battle this All-Star weekend, and these are the 2011 NBA Champion’s selection: Sidy Cissoko, Mojave King, Kenneth Lofton Jr., Mac McClung, Leonard Miller, Scotty Pippen Jr., and his most exciting young star Scoot Henderson from the G League Ignite.

If you are looking to see the picks live, here’s how the draft went down in the NBA App:

Who plays first in the Rising Star games?

The Jordan Rising Stars objective will be the usual as each side’s goal is to reach the final target score, meaning the contest will end the second the last basketball enters the rim, and not when the clock stops ticking.

The tournament’s format will be decided in three games that will take place on February 17th:

  • Game 1: Team A vs. Team B
  • Game 2: Team C vs. Team D
  • Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2

The first two semifinal games will be played until the first team gets to 40 points. Featuring the winners of the first contests, the final match will be played to a final target score of 25 to define the champion. The competition will start at 9 p.m. ET from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.