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 (Trail 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 (Twitter links). 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.
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)
1. DC also has 3 rotation guys but it seems like the future would be more important than the present in a thought experiment like this
2.Bounce back? Dice been great this season. He’s just in a different role than he was last season. For example he was the best player on the court just earlier today while leading us to a home W
3. Bub def missing the vets that got shipped out but he’s gonna be a solid guard no doubt & Tre looks like he’s got Ray Allen type potential
4. Agree 100%
5. Dont sleep on Scoot. He has everything you want in an elite pg. Blazers sorta set up perfectly for him too.
6. Hard to imagine America embracing a Russian basketball star anytime soon but Egor can def be a star along the same lines as a guy like Deni or Paul Pressey, neither of which is a superstar but both obv impactful players
7. Jalen Green was a integral guy on an elite defense last season. As a #1 scoring option he exerted most of his energy on offense but he’s a more than capable defender. Speaking of defense, Dunn & Maluach both have all-defense potential.
8. Carter Bryant is the 1st asset that my Hawks sent to SATX in the Dejounte Murray deal so I’m selfishly rooting against him. Turns out I haven’t had to root very hard bc that was a terrible draft pick. Totally agree that Dylan basically carries the other 2 but I’d be a lil surprised if he doesn’t end up being the best of this group of 24 guys & that’s obv saying a lot. Dylan has future HOF level game imo
For the career?
1. Daniels, Risacher, Newell. I’d still much rather have Risacher than Sarr on the Wiz; I really really like what I’ve seen from Newell, how comfortable he’s been out there, how refined some of his plays are. I wouldn’t be surprized if he took a path similar to Jalen Johnson; Daniels is having a mixed season – some good, some bad. But I still think there’s a great player in there. Like many foreign guys, we’re likely to see the best of him after his rookie deal. Foreigners rarely peak in their 2nd-3rd year and then fade. The same applies to Risacher.
2. Hard, but probably SAS, and that’s just because of Harper. He’s likely to be the best player among all the guys named here. Which basically means that whatever trio he’s in, that trio will be either 2nd or even first in a ranking like this.
3. Don’t even know. In a perfect world Memphis, but I can see how the careers of Edey and Spencer could easily fade or get derailed.
The Wiz may be worth a consideration for the top-3 due to what Kyshawn can become.
Some thoughts on other guys here:
I really don’t see it with Bub, even when his jumpers fall.
Unlike what many believe, Jalen Green is not a bust and not a trash can. I could see a reality where starting from now, he has the 2nd or 3rd best career among all the guys named here.
McCain’s struggles were very predictable. 16 games played in the league last season, a serious injury, small guard. The NBA is tough, cutthroat and cruel. It moves on. I was laughing at trade proposals that sent PG’s contract to places like Washington or Brooklyn, with McCain as the reward.
Demin doesn’t play competitive basketball. He floats around, shoots and whatever. Afraid to make a play, afraid to influence a game. He’s very very lucky to find himself in a position of the highest draft pick on the rebuilding team. Had he gone in his range to Minnesota or Washington, the chance of him signing his 2nd contract would be way lower. If you said, “If Demin scores more total career points than Patrick Williams, I’ll give you $100. If P-Will scores more, you’ll have to give me $250” I’d take that bet. I’d also take the same with Tony Snell, but reversed – I’d bet a hundred that Tony’s career total will be higher than Demin’s for a chance to win $250. Tony has scored only 3672 in his career, and Demin already has more than 10% of that at 399.
Nice group of guys
Demin was a terrible selection. So many more deserving rookies.
Lol you don’t know ball
I mean I would rather have Ace bailey over demin but demin isnt even the worst rising star right now, I don’t know what Murray-boyles is doing there
“I don’t know what Murray-boyles is doing there”
Playing winning basketball in Toronto? He’s been legitimately impactful and good for the Raptors.
How long did it take demin to attempt a 2-pt shot?