NBA All-Star 2018 Odds: Who'll Win The Slam Dunk, Three-Point Contests?

Some of the NBA’s most exciting players will compete in the biggest competitions on All-Star Weekend 2018. A perennial All-Star is favored to win the three-point contest, while a rookie has the best odds to be crowned this year’s slam dunk champion.

It’s no surprise that Klay Thompson is the top pick in the three-point shooting competition, and his odds are twice as good as defending champion Eric Gordon’s odds. The choice for who might win the slam dunk contest isn’t as clear with Dennis Smith Jr. having only slightly better odds than Donovan Mitchell.

Only two of the eight three-point contestants have better than 5/1 odds. All four slam dunk contestants have better than 5/1 odds.

Stephen Curry is probably the best shooter to ever play in the NBA, but his teammate with the Golden State Warriors is also on the list of all-time great shooters. Thompson ranks 11th in league history by making 42.3 percent of his threes, and he’s shooting a career-high 45.5 percent from behind the arc in the 2017-2018 season. He’s second among all players this year in both three-point percentage and total threes made.

Saturday night will mark the fourth consecutive year in which Thompson has made the All-Star team and competed in the three-point contest. He won the competition in 2016.

Thompson failed to successfully defend his title last year as Eric Gordon finished in first place. The Houston Rockets’ guard will try to become the first player since Jason Kapono in 2008 to win two consecutive three-point contests. Devin Booker and Paul George, who was named as an All-Star replacement on Team LeBron, are among the top candidates to challenge for the title.

Unlike the three-point shootout, the slam dunk contest is guaranteed to have a first-time winner. Victor Oladipo is the only participant that’s competed in the competition before. He was the runner-up to two-time champion Zach Lavine in 2015.

Larry Nance Jr. will compete for the first time in his third NBA season. The big man might own the best dunk of the season, putting Kevin Durant on a poster in a game between the Lakers and Warriors in December.

The slam dunk favorites have been two of this season’s most impressive rookies. Smith is fifth in scoring among first-year players, and he was drafted ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks, in large part because of his athleticism. Mitchell might be the frontrunner to be named the 2018 Rookie of the Year, leading all rookies with 19.5 points per game and keeping the Utah Jazz in the playoff race.

Last year’s slam dunk winner, Glenn Robinson III, currently plays for the Indiana Pacers' G-League affiliate.