Those Rising Stars Could Go Far

By Dennis Adair from Gainesville-StPetersburg, FL - Devin Booker Scored 12 Points, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41913721

The Rising Stars game on Friday showed us a lot about some of these young talented players and what their future could hold.

I really only noticed two disappointing players out there and they were Bojan Bogdanovic and Elfrid Payton. I was pretty disappointed by these two players just in the overall game. Payton just didn't seem involved at all and Bogdanovic just hovered around the three point line the whole time not really looking to score at all.

I did see a lot of great things from multiple players though. Let's start with the USA and their players.

• Okafor gave us a look at his improved jumpshot and his ability to handle the ball. I was real impressed with just his overall footwork.  
• Rodney Hood gave us a look at his pure athleticism and his great defense. That is what I love about Hood, his defense. He is a great young guy to have on your team because he has potential, but he already comes with great defense which is what you want from a role player on your team. 
• DeAngelo Russell was putting away the worries that he will turn in to a "Ricky Rubio" type player where all he can do is pass and can't score that well. He shot well from three (4-7) and looked to score at a great rate.
• Devin Booker honestly came out as the winner of this game. Last month, I was convinced that this kid was going to be the next Steph Curry with just the way he shoots and his ability to move without the ball. He showed the world that he can shoot. He went 5-8 from 3-point and finished the game with 23 points. I have a lot of confidence that this kid has a bright future in the NBA.
• Marcus Smart didn't give us any offense from himself really, but he proved that he can run the point; a topic that was very debatable when he first came into the league. He also gave us great defense in a Rising Stars game.
• Jordan Clarkson has a lot of confidence. That is definitely a bright spot for that kid. He thinks he can do it. He is going to look for any way to score because he feels like he can take it at anyone. Scoring 25 points last night, that is pretty good for a second round pick.
• Jabari Parker was amazing in this event considering he came back not long ago from an ACL injury. He showed off his athleticism and his ability to play the PF spot no problem. And that will be a big thing for Jabari. A player that I compare him to is Anthony Bennett. He is really more of an undersized PF and that was a big problem for Bennett which is why he really didn't have success in this league (so far). 
• Karl-Anthony Towns really struggled in the first half of the game. He looked kind of confused like it was an actual game going on, but he caught on in the second half that their wasn't that much defense being played and grabbed 18 points and 7 rebounds in the end. He also showed off his passing ability with some great dimes. 
• Zach LaVine gave us his explosive ability as always, but made sure that people knew that he wasn't just a dunker as he had some nice 3 pointers and mid-range shots. He also showed off his passing and rebounding abilities a little bit. He also gave us a look at his ability to play the 2-guard position, something that was concerning with Zach coming into the league was what positions could be play. He is a little bit undersized at the SG position but is also not really a PG. Zach was great in this game as he grabbed the MVP trophy at the end.

While the winning Team USA was vey impressive, The World Team was just impressive. Let's take a look at them.

• Trey Lyles really never got a chance to prove himself in this game I thought. He played a little over 12 minutes and only made 1 shot. Hopefully he is back next year and shows us a little more.
• Neto was great from a PG stand point. He passed the ball really well as he usually does. While he only took and made 1 shot, he was having too much fun passing to think about scoring.
• Clint Capela gave us a lot. He didn't do lot last year til the playoffs and looked great as a role player. Capela can play defense and rebound, but offense is really where he struggles. He looked great getting dunks in the Rising Stars game though. Hopefully he can develop a post hook move or something so he can become a more dominant player on the offensive end.
• Dwight Powell's ability to rebound is amazing. This guy should be in the dunk contest because his timing and jumping ability is pretty amazing. He can play defense and run the floor well as he showed us in this game, he looks like he will have a bright future in this game.
• Mario Hezonja did a little bit of everything in this game. He had 19 points, 7 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and 3 three-pointers. He will be a great all-around player in this league if he is able to put up numbers like this. He is a highly intelligent basketball player with a great basketball IQ because of his great decision making.
• Nikola Jokic, pronounced  Nee-Co-La Yo-Kik-ch, played well. The reason why I put up the pronunciation is because I'm tired of people saying his last name as it sounds. It's not to be taken as a joke, mis-pronounced last name pun intended. This guy deserves to have his name pronounced right after that preformance. He was so physical inside battle for rebounds with Towns just getting into players. His hustle in the Rising Stars challenge was great, couldn't have asked anymore out of him.
• Andew Wiggins put on a show for Toronto, dunking anytime he could. He gave us some great post-up game and passed well too (although he did have a couple pretty bad passes). He reminds me a lot of DeMar DeRozan except with a better post game. He can attack the paint really well.
• Emanuel Mudiay shot the lights out from 3. I was very impressed with his scoring mentality. However, he isn't the best point guard as even in the Rising Stars game, he turns the ball over a ton. He had 5 turnovers in 25 minutes of play. That's a lot. He really needs to cut that down. But if he can pass better and attack the rim better, Mudiay will be a great prospect.
• Kristaps Porzingis has the hype. Is the hype what he is. Yes, he showed the world that the Porzingis hype train or whatever you want to call it isn't exaggerating. The unicorn is real. This guy is over 7 ft. tall and can shoot the three like Dirk and can dunk and play defense like Dwight. Well, not that good yet, but he could end up being that great. Porzingis had 30 points and shot 5-8 from three. Not bad. I was a little skeptical of Porzingis considering he was getting all of this hype and he plays for the Knicks. But Porzingis is real. I'll tell you that.

It was nice to see all of these young guys play as well as they did in one game. It really gave us a chance to look at how these players could be in the future. These guys are the future of the NBA. They are going to be the future stars, the future role players, the future championships, and the future All-Star teams so it was nice to see them play in this game to give us just a taste.