NBA Skills Challenge: Who Joins Tyrese Maxey in Competition?

Before Tyrese Maxey comes off the bench for the Eastern Conference All-Stars on Sunday night, the Philadelphia 76ers’ guard will compete in the Kia Skills Challenge to kick off All-Star Saturday Night’s events.

In the three-team competition, Maxey put his skills to the test with Team All-Stars. They will compete against Team Top Picks and Team Pacers.

Roster Rundown

All-Stars

Maxey joins two other All-Stars from the Eastern Conference, linking up Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Trae Young and Toronto Raptors hybrid Scottie Barnes.

Barnes enters the All-Star roster as a replacement for Maxey’s big man teammate, Joel Embiid. As Embiid earned All-Star honors for the seventh time in his career, he was set to start for the Eastern Conference on Sunday. Unfortunately, a knee injury has him sidelined for a minimum of four weeks, leading the NBA to replace him with Barnes.

Young joins the All-Stars with the most experience under his belt. The six-one guard out of Atlanta might have plenty of time to go, but he’s already got an impressive resume since he landed with the Hawks fifth overall in 2018. In 2020, Young was a first-time All-Star. It took him two years to get back into the big game, and he earned his third nod this season.

Top Picks

Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic is joined by Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and the San Antonio Spurs stretch-five Victor Wembanyama.

This one’s self-explanatory; each of these guys was the NBA’s No. 1 pick recently. Edwards landed in the NBA as the top pick in 2020 out of Georgia. Banchero earned first-pick honors last year when he made his way to Orlando out of Duke. Wembanyama is the NBA’s latest top pick, entering the league as an International prospect out of France.

Team Pacers

Being that All-Star weekend is held in Indianapolis at the home of the Indiana Pacers, the home team has a squad in the competition. Their group will feature the two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, the sophomore Rising Stars MVP Bennedict Mathurin, and the seasoned veteran Myles Turner.