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The NBA announced the rosters for the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge today. And it's bitter sweet news for Utah Jazz fans. I know we're all saddened by the NBA overlooking the contributions of Tibor Pleiss, but, okay, I can't even keep that shtick up. The Good News is that our starting back-court of Raul Neto (PG) and Rodney Hood (SG/SF) have been selected to play for the World team and the United States respectively. Of course, politics will make sure both of them aren't starting.
It's also politics that has us lamenting the non-inclusion of our guy Trey Lyles. Lyles, a Canadian, would probably be a nice fit for the World Team this All-Star Weekend. The All-Star Weekend is hosted by the Toronto Raptors this year, and everything is up there in Canada (aka "White Vegas"). Lyles was NOT selected for the team though, while Dwight Powell was. Powell is also Canadian, but he's from Toronto, while Lyles is from the much smaller market area of Canada called the Prairies, and a much smaller metro area called Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (About one fourth the population of the Salt Lake City Metro area.) So Lyles didn't make it despite being in my mind a more versatile and capable player.
But here are the rosters for both squads.
| Team USA | TM | HT | WT | POS | City | St | NCAA Team | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PRASB | |||||
| 1 | Elfrid Payton | ORL | 6 | 4 | 185 | 1 | Marrero | LA | La. Lafayette | 40 | 29.6 | 11.2 | 3.6 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 22.2 | |||
| 2 | Jordan Clarkson | LAL | 6 | 5 | 194 | 1 | 2 | San Antonio | TX | Missouri | 45 | 32.1 | 15.1 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 22.8 | ||
| 3 | Jabari Parker | MIL | 6 | 8 | 250 | 3 | 4 | Chicago | IL | Duke | 41 | 28.0 | 11.4 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 18.6 | ||
| 4 | Nerlens Noel | PHI | 6 | 11 | 228 | 4 | 5 | Malden | MA | Kentucky | 40 | 29.3 | 10.5 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 23.3 | ||
| 5 | Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN | 7 | 0 | 244 | 5 | 4 | Metuchen | NJ | Kentucky | 46 | 29.3 | 16.1 | 9.7 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 29.6 | ||
| 6 | D'Angelo Russell | LAL | 6 | 5 | 195 | 1 | Louisville | KY | Ohio St | 45 | 27.0 | 12.2 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 20.4 | |||
| 7 | Zach LaVine | MIN | 6 | 5 | 189 | 1 | 2 | Bothell | WA | UCLA | 46 | 23.2 | 12.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 19.1 | ||
| 8 | Marcus Smart | BOS | 6 | 4 | 220 | 1 | 2 | Flower Mound | TX | Oklahoma St | 25 | 27.1 | 9.2 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 19.0 | ||
| 9 | Rodney Hood | UTA | 6 | 8 | 206 | 2 | 3 | Meridian | MS | Duke | 42 | 30.5 | 13.8 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 20.7 | ||
| 10 | Jahlil Okafor | PHI | 6 | 11 | 275 | 5 | 4 | Fort Smith | AR | Duke | 41 | 30.8 | 17.4 | 7.3 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 27.5 | ||
vs.
| The World | TM | HT | WT | POS | City | St | Country | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PRASB | |||||
| 1 | Emmanuel Mudiay | DEN | 6 | 5 | 200 | 1 | Arlington | TX | USA | 31 | 29.6 | 11.0 | 3.3 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 21.6 | |||
| 2 | Andrew Wiggins | MIN | 6 | 8 | 199 | 2 | 3 | Toronto | ON | Canada | 45 | 35.0 | 20.8 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 27.8 | ||
| 3 | Bojan Bogdanovic | BKN | 6 | 8 | 216 | 3 | Mostar | HZ | Bosnia & Herz. | 46 | 27.0 | 9.5 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 14.6 | |||
| 4 | Clint Ndumba-Capela | HOU | 6 | 10 | 240 | 4 | 5 | Geneva | GN | Switzerland | 46 | 21.6 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 17.6 | ||
| 5 | Kristaps Porzingis | NYK | 7 | 3 | 240 | 4 | 5 | Liepaja | LP | Latvia | 47 | 28.3 | 14.0 | 7.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 25.5 | ||
| 6 | Raulzinho Neto | UTA | 6 | 1 | 179 | 1 | Belo Horizonte | MG | Brazil | 43 | 19.0 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 10.3 | |||
| 7 | Mario Hezonja | ORL | 6 | 8 | 218 | 2 | 3 | Dubrovnik | BN | Croatia | 41 | 13.7 | 4.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 7.6 | ||
| 8 | Nikola Mirotic | CHI | 6 | 10 | 220 | 4 | 3 | Podgorcia | PG | Montenegro | 44 | 24.0 | 10.6 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 19.5 | ||
| 9 | Dwight Powell | DAL | 6 | 11 | 240 | 4 | 5 | Toronto | ON | Canada | 45 | 17.0 | 6.8 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 13.4 | ||
| 10 | Nikola Jokic | DEN | 6 | 10 | 250 | 5 | Sombor | WB | Serbia | 43 | 19.0 | 9.0 | 5.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 17.5 | |||
It's going to be fun to see them both in the game, a tradition that many former Jazz players have enjoyed over the various incarnations of the "Rookie Game". (East vs. West, Rookies vs. Sophs, Mixed selection, and now USA vs. The World.) For those who care, the players were Bryon Russell, Andrei Kirilenko (x2), Deron Williams (x2), Paul Millsap (x2), Ronnie Brewer, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Trey Burke (x2), Dante Exum, and Rudy Gobert.