Up-and-coming standouts from the NBA and the world will be featured on Friday night as part of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend festivities in San Francisco. The 2025 Rising Stars Challenge annual showcase will take place at Chase Center, featuring four teams and highlighting the NBA’s top rookies, sophomores and G League standouts. Amen Thompson (Rockets), Stephon Castle (Spurs), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Heat) and Bub Carrington (Wizards) are among those scheduled to participate. The event’s four honorary coaches will be Tim Hardaway Sr., Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin and Jeremy Lin, with three games on the schedule.
The Rising Stars Challenge 2025 is set to begin at 9 p.m. ET. Team Mitch Richmond is the betting favorite to win the mini-tournament at +150 (risk $100 to win $150) in the latest 2025 Rising Stars odds. Team Chris Mullin is +185, followed by Team Tim Hardaway at +310 and Team Jeremy Lin (G League) at +600. Before making any 2025 Rising Stars picks, be sure to check out the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend predictions from SportsLine expert Mike Barner.
Barner is one of the most respected voices in the industry, and his work has appeared in Sports Illustrated and on Yahoo, RotoWire and KFFL. He’s also been featured on ESPN Radio. He digs deep into the data, examining team trends and projecting game outcomes. If there’s anybody who can spot an edge in a matchup or identify a player in position to break out, it’s him.
Barner’s expertise has been on full display lately as he enters the All-Star break on an 80-52 run on NBA prop picks (+1836). Over the past five seasons at SportsLine, Mike has crushed sportsbooks with a 470-406 record, returning $2,329 to $100 bettors on against-the-spread NBA picks. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Now, he has analyzed the 2025 Rising Stars lineups from all angles and just locked in his coveted pick and predictions. He is only sharing his NBA picks and analysis at SportsLine.
This is the fourth consecutive year in which the Rising Stars event will center on a three-game tournament among four teams with seven players on each squad. NBA G League players will join with rookies and sophomores, and all three of the tournament games will be played to a Final Target Score, rather than over a specific period of time.
The first two games will be played to 40, with the final played to 25 to determine the event’s champion. The first matchup at 9 p.m. ET is Team Chris Mullin (-2.5) vs. Team Tim Hardaway, followed by Team Jeremy Lin (+4.5) vs. Team Mitch Richmond. See which team to back at SportsLine.
Barner is fading Team Jeremy, because it is filled with G League players. Despite some intrigue with Reed Sheppard of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on the squad, Barner sees a better value elsewhere. Lack of experience is another problem with Team Jeremy. Mac McClung has played in just five NBA games, J.D. Davison 25 games, Bryce McGowens just over one season, Sheppard 39 games, Pat Spencer 28 games, Leonard Miller 24 games and Dink Pate zero NBA games. To Barner, that does not add up to a winning formula.
Also add in the fact that the other three teams feature either NBA rookies and/or sophomores. That places Team Jeremy at an inherent disadvantage and outlines why this side is a substantial betting underdog. Barner believes that will be too much to overcome and isn’t taking a shot on the underdogs in this spot. See more predictions at SportsLine.
Barner has studied the NBA Rising Stars Challenge from every angle and found a critical X-factor that makes one of these teams a must-back on Friday night. See who it is over at SportsLine.
Who wins the NBA Rising Stars Challenge 2025, and which critical X-factor do you need to know about? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike Barner’s pick for the NBA Skills Challenge, all from the expert who has crushed his NBA picks, and find out.
See picks at SportsLine.
Team Mitch Richmond +150
Team Chris Mullin +185
Team Tim Hardaway +310
Team Jeramy Lin +600
Team Mitch
Amen Thompson (Houston Rockets)
Ausar Thompson (Detroit Pistons)
Bilal Coulibaly (Washington Wizards)
Scoot Henderson (Portland Trail Blazers)
Toumani Camara (Portland Trail Blazers)
Yves Missi (New Orleans Pelicans)
Bub Carrington (Washington Wizards)
Julian Strawther (Denver Nuggets)
Team Chris
Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs)
Dalton Knecht (L.A. Lakers)
Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies)
Keyonte George (Utah Jazz)
Zach Edey (Memphis Grizzlies)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Golden State Warriors)
Ryan Dunn (Phoenix Suns)
Team Tim
Brandin Podziemski (Golden State Warriors)
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami Heat)
Gradey Dick (Toronto Raptors)
Anthony Black (Orlando Magic)
Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks)
Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)
Tristan da Silva (Orlando Magic)
Team Jeremy
JD Davison (Maine Celtics)
Mac McClung (Osceola Magic)
Bryce McGowens (Rip City Remix)
Leonard Miller (Iowa Wolves)
Dink Pate (Mexico City Capitanes)
Reed Sheppard (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
Pat Spencer (Santa Cruz Warriors)
