NBA Makes Julian Strawther Announcement After Scoot Henderson News

After recently injuring his ankle, sophomore Scoot Henderson won't participate in the Rising Stars contest and Nuggets' wing Julian Strawther will take his place. 

This season, he is averaging 9.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He is shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range and has started the last four games for Denver, thrice scoring double-digits.

He will play for Mitch Richmond's team alnigside Toumani Camara, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Yves Missi, and Amen & Ausar Thompson. 

In the first round, "Team M" will take on Jeremy Lin's roster of G League players. Strawther and company are favored by 4.5 points according to FanDuel, and have the best odds (+160) to win the Rising Stars Tournament outright.

The winner of the four-game tournament will get to face off against Shaquille O'Neal, although by then they will be coached by Candace Parker, not a former Golden State Warriors legend. 

Jokic is on Charles Barkley's team, so Strawther and company will have to upset the LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry-led team to get a chance to face Jokic and the international stars. 

With an oversized lineup, "Team M" is expected to lean heavily on Coulibaly and the Thompson Twins, although Strawther is one of the better shooters on the team.