NBA all-star Saturday night, but just Hornets players
By Ben Handler
Skills Challenge
The Skills Challenge is a tough one, as the NBA is constantly tweaking the format and rules, so it’s hard to even pinpoint what a perfect candidate would look like. But we can use this year’s model with teams of three.
It’s a sort of relay race that involves dribbling, passing, shooting, and layups. So the focus here must be on speed and skill. The obvious first choice would be LaMelo. He’d be a natural fit in this competition so he can lead Team Hornets.
I’d round out the team with two of the new additions, Vasilije Micic and Tre Mann. Both players have already proven to be great ballhandlers and passers. Mann has great burst, while Micic could mitigate any lack of speed with his exceptional ball skills.
This would actually be a very competitive team, and could probably stack up with any of the ones in this year’s contest. Obviously, LaMelo hasn’t been healthy enough to play, and the other two guys aren’t exactly household names (yet!), but their skill sets would cater really nicely to this particular challenge.
Hopefully this time next season, the Hornets are healthy and playing well, and we can see a team like this in the 2025 Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.