The 2026 Rising Stars event will feature 11 sophomores, 10 rookies and seven G League representatives, the NBA announced in a press release. The mini-tournament will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on February 13.
Here’s the full list of participants:
Rookies
- Cedric Coward, Grizzlies
- Dylan Harper, Spurs
- Egor Dёmin, Nets
- Tre Johnson, Wizards
- VJ Edgecombe, Sixers
- Kon Knueppel, Hornets
- Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans
- Collin Murray-Boyles, Raptors
- Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
- Derik Queen, Pelicans
Sophomores
- Matas Buzelis, Bulls
- Alex Sarr, Wizards
- Stephon Castle, Spurs
Reed Sheppard, Rockets- Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers
- Cam Spencer, Grizzlies
- Kyshawn George, Wizards
- Jaylon Tyson, Cavaliers
- Ajay Mitchell, Thunder
- Kel’el Ware, Heat
- Jaylen Wells, Grizzlies
G League
- Sean East II, Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz‘s affiliate)
- Alijah Martin, Raptors 905
- Ron Harper Jr., Maine Celtics
- Tristen Newton, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets‘ affiliate)
- David Jones Garcia, Austin Spurs
- Yang Hansen, Rip City Remix (Blazers’ affiliate)
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser, San Diego Clippers
All 10 of the rookies — headlined by No. 1 overall pick Flagg, No. 3 Edgecombe, and No. 4 Knuppel — were lottery selections in last year’s draft, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). By contrast, only five of the sophomores were lottery picks, with three being first-rounders outside of the lottery and three picked in the second round (Twitter link via Marks).
NBA assistant coaches selected the 21 rookies and sophomores, according to the release, and those players will be drafted onto three different seven-player teams on Tuesday at 6:00 pm CT on Peacock. Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will draft and be the “honorary coaches” of the three squads, while Austin Rivers will be the honorary coach for the G League representatives.
The four actual head coaches will be assistants from the All-Star game coaching staffs.
Six of the seven players representing the G League are actually on NBA contracts: Yang (No. 16) and Niederhauser (No. 30) were 2025 first-round picks, while Martin, Harper, Newton and Garcia are on two-way deals with their respective clubs. East, who played in Canada and Romania last season, is the lone player on an actual G League contract after Utah waived him in the fall.
Dylan Harper, the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft, is the younger brother of Ron Harper Jr. Both players are the sons of longtime NBA guard Ron Harper, who won five championships with the Bulls and Lakers.
As for the tournament itself, the four teams will face off in a single-elimination semifinal, with the two winners competing in the final. The semifinal is first to 40 points, whereas the final will be first to 25.
Harper Jr vs Dylan Harper is a cool storyline their dad was an absolute baller
Next year it would be cool if both boozer brothers made it
Could be they got it from their mom. She was the 1st Filipina to play D1 hoops.
To be honest this will be the most interesting part of the All-Star festivities.
Which young trio would you rather have on your team if you could have all 3 for their whole career?
SAS- Dylan Harper/Carter Bryant/Jeremy Sochan
Por- Scoot/Shaedon Sharpe/Yang Hansen
BKN- Egor Demin/Noah Clowney/Danny Wolf
Mem- Cam Spencer/Cedric Coward/Zach Edey
Was- Bub Carrington/Tre Johnson/Kyshawn George
Atl- Dyson Daniels/Zacch Risacher/Asa Newell
Phi- Jared McCain/VJ Edgecombe/Adem Bona
Phx- Jalen Green/Ryan Dunn/Khaman Maluach
Rank a top3 if possible
I’m a Wiz fan so I’m going to be a little biased (also like how you inserted Bub into the equation instead of Sarr lol).
1. Memphis – I think those three are a bit more polished than the rest of the bunch. Edey is a BIG lad.
2. Washington – My guys are still super young and inconsistent but still very very talented. Just have some growing pains to go through.
3. Philadelphia – Edgecombe looks like a monster, if McCain can get back closer to what he showed last year thats a crazy combo to have. Like Bona too, energy guy with the ability to make an impact defensively with the big time blocks.
1. Memphis (the only one with 3 true rotation players rn)
2. Atlanta (I think Dyson will bounce back so there’s a world where they have potentially 2 all stars)
3. Washington (Bub is in a big slump rn still and we’ll see how kyshawn does with a star like Trae on o)
4. Philadelphia (Edgecombe is gonna be rly good and McCain is great he just needs a change of scenery)
5. Portland (Scoot is iffy and yang is a few years away but sharpie is great)
6. Brooklyn (Demin and wolf been good and Clowney been rly good compared to last yr but idk if any of them can be stars)
7. Phoenix (Green is not a great defender and Khaman hasn’t gotten a shot yet, dunn was better last yr)
8. San Antonio (Still haven’t seen much of Carter Bryant and Sochan seems to have taken a huge step back in recent years…Harper is good tho he carries the trio)
Nice group of guys