Arguably the second-best attraction of the 2017 All-Star Weekend is this: the Slam Dunk competition.
We won’t see a potential rematch with last year’s finalists, Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon, unfortunately. Lavine, the defending champion, was forced to withdraw after suffering a torn ACL, leaving Gordon to likely steal the show. Read on below and find out if the experts think so, too.
2017 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Expert Picks and Predictions
Bleacher Report
Expert
Prediction
Paul Kasabian
Aaron Gordon
Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasabian predicts Aaron Gordon (-200) winning his first NBA Slam Dunk title. He expects the Orlando Magic forward to cruise all the way to the finals in a faceoff with Derrick Jones Jr. (+150) who is the first-ever Dunk Contest participant who played in the D-League in the same season.
CBS Sports
Expert
Prediction
Bill Relter
Aaron Gordon
Matt Moore
Aaron Gordon
James Herber
Aaron Gordon
Ananth Pandlan
Derrick Jones Jr.
CBS Sports asked four of its experts to predict their champion and three went with Mr. Gordon, while one chose Jones Jr. It really seems like almost everybody wants to see a showdown between those two athletic freaks. Let’s hope that the basketball gods want this, as well.
The Daily Campus
Expert
Prediction
Matt Barresi
Derrick Jones Jr.
Matt Barresi of The Daily Campus is all in on Jones Jr., pointing out that nobody can match his hops. And if you don’t believe it, this video should be more than enough to make you think otherwise. This kid can really, really fly.
TopBet
Expert
Prediction
TopBet
Derrick Jones Jr.
We, too, are going with Jones Jr. His god-like hops should be able to shut down the building with gravity-defying finishes that’ll be too spectacular to outdo, possibly even for someone as athletic as Gordon.
