NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest: Betting Odds and Expert Predictions

The NBA season has been nothing short of a soap-opera over the last month or so. There are just too many storylines to touch on without making this piece more than 3,000 words, so let's just stick to the main talking points. The first; the Los Angeles Lakers got played by the New Orleans Pelicans. I truly believe there is no way in hell the Pelicans would have traded Anthony Davis to a conference opponent. So, they did the next best thing - they aired out every single trade offer the Lakers put forward and caused friction in the locker room. Love it. The second is the absurd scoring spree James Harden is on. As of writing this, he's now gone 31 straight games with 30 or more points. That's insane. And lastly, the New York Knicks are bad. We hear the question "can Alabama's football team beat an NFL team?" Probably not, but the Knicks are so bad, I'm starting to believe that Duke may very well be able to beat them.

This year's dunk contest may be able to save All-Star Weekend. It features three guys who are relatively unknown amongst casual fans, and one budding superstar. I know it sucks that the days of star players taking part in this contest are basically over - No more Jordan in his prime , or Vin-sanity moments, no more Mamba mentality or 5'9" freaks of nature jumping over 7'0" guys , but we have to make the best of the situation, and I believe this year's contestants will leave you at the edge of your seat wanting more.

Before we get into breaking down the contestants, let me remind you how the dunk contest works. The contest is a two-round event that gives each of the four players a chance to execute any dunk of their choosing without a time limit. Each player will have up to three attempts to complete each dunk in both the first and final rounds. Dunks are scored on a scale of six to 10, with the minimum being 30 and the maximum being 50 points.

Now let's take a closer look at the field and try to determine who has the best shot at winning this thing. All odds are courtesy of Bovada .

Dennis Smith Jr. (+125)

Aside from Miles Bridges having the home-court advantage behind him on Saturday night, Dennis Smith Jr. - now of the lowly New York Knicks, has dunk contest familiarity to get him through the night's event. Smith was a contestant in this event just last year and finished third while getting off only two dunks total before Larry Nancy Jr. and Donovan Mitchell moved on to the final.

We like the confidence 'DSJ' is showing on his new team as he is averaging double-digit scoring in his last four games with the Knicks, so that confidence should bode well coming into this event. Smith has the ability to get elevation with hangtime, so it wouldn't be a complete shock to see him taking it from just inside the free throw line and contorting his body in ways that only a small, more athletic body can do. He is the favorite for a reason, although +125 isn't something we are willing to back in a glorified popularity contest.

Miles Bridges (+200)

Miles Bridges can become the first player since Blake Griffin in 2011 to win the Slam Dunk contest in front of his home crowd. Bridges - who plays for Charlotte by way of Michigan State - isn't exactly lighting up the scoresheet for the Hornets as he is averaging just 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. However, it is dunks like these that have people talking about how electric and the young small-forward is.

Bridges should be able to use his explosiveness and his length to get well above the rim and finish whatever dunk he has planned with the kind of authority required to knock everyone off their seats. Given the odds of +200, my money would be on the fan favorite considering home-court advantage in this popularity contest.

John Collins (+275)

John Collins is an NBA player who plays for the Atlanta Hawks. For fans who don't follow the NBA as closely as I do, or for fans who just turn in to see awesome dunks once a year, they likely won't know who Collins is. He was the 19^th pick in the NBA Draft and is quietly averaging 19.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He stands at six-feet, 10 inches and he will be the tallest contestant in this year's competition.

We don't exactly have much to go on for Collins as his highlight reel is mostly lobs. However, with the few solo dunks he has manufactured, we can tell that he can in fact 'get up' for a big man and he should have no problem finishing his dunks with power. Not sure that's going to be enough to 'wow' the judges or the crowd, but he should put forth a good effort.

Hamidou Diallo (+300)

Hamidou Diallo is only six-foot five inches tall, but man does he have hops. The Kentucky product will represent Oklahoma City this coming weekend and should make Thunder nation proud of his abilities. Unfortunately, we just don't see a way where he becomes more creative or more powerful or more athletic than the three guys above him over night.

With dunks like these, we see that Diallo does have the hops required (duh, he's an NBA player) to compete in this contest, but the creative and lack of power could leave the crowd wanting more from rookie. It's going to take a gargantuan performance for Diallo to win this contest, and it's just something we don't see happening.

Prediction

To keep it short and sweet - let's roll the dice with the home town favorite, Bridges. The Dunk contest is essentially a popularity contest with some athletic abilities mixed in. Bridges has both the jumping ability and length to pull of any dunk he chooses and make it look smooth and powerful. Getting him at +200 is a good price and we will take a shot.