The NBA All-Star Skills Challenge is a combination of obstacle course navigation, player speed, passing skills, and shooting skills. The contestants go up against each other in one-on-one matchups and advance in separate single-elimination contests over multiple rounds, leading to a one-on-one final matchup. What will happen in Chicago? We will soon find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are multiple former champions of the skills challenge in this 2020 event and Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets is one of them. He actually won the title in 2018. Dinwiddie averages 6.6 assists per game, so his passing skills are advanced and relatively polished and the skills challenge does require players to hit a 3-point shot at the end of the obstacle course in order to win the competition. Dinwiddie is shooting just 31 percent on threes for the season, so that could become a problem for him in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The advantage Gilgeous-Alexander brings to the 2020 skills challenge is that he is likely the fastest player in the field. He will get up and down the court more easily than other players and he is also a better shooter than Dinwiddie this year, hitting 35 percent of his threes. The worry here is his passing. Gilgeous-Alexander averages just three assists per game. The passing portion of the skills challenge could be the component of the event which trips him up and gets in the way of his push for a trophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The star for the Toronto Raptors \u2013 a player who has enabled Toronto to thrive even without Kawhi Leonard and (for portions of time) sometimes-injured center Marc Gasol \u2013 could certainly take over at this event. Siakam averages just over 23 points and three assists per game. He is shooting 36 percent on threes. He does everything well, which lends itself to a good skills challenge showing. He is long and rangy, which enables him to cover the court very easily with one or two strides. However, he won\u2019t have the pure footspeed of Gilgeous-Alexander. He is more likely than other players to hit the 3-point shot at the end of this contest, but he might not get down the court as quickly as other competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defending skills challenge champion from 2019 will certainly feel the most comfortable of any player in the field. Tatum ought to be relaxed and self-assured as he tries to go back-to-back in Chicago. Tatum shoots 38 percent on threes, but is averaging only three assists. Dinwiddie\u2019s prowess as a passer, with over six assists per game, is hard to ignore here. Tatum, like other non-Dinwiddie players, will have his work cut out for him in the passing part of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wingman for Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee with the Bucks is a very capable shooter and scorer. He might have the most blended portfolio of anyone in the event. He shoots 44 percent on threes, and he averages just over four assists. He might not be quite as good a passer as Dinwiddie, but he is a better shooter. He might not be as quick as Gilgeous-Alexander, but he clearly is better as a passer. He might have the balanced set of attributes needed to win in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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