Utah Jazz: Trey Lyles, Dante Exum to Play in Rising Stars Challenge
Utah Jazz sophomores Trey Lyles and Dante Exum will be participating in the Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.
With the NBA All-Star Game fast approaching, a lot of the talk surrounding the Utah Jazz lately has been about the possibility of the team getting All-Star representation. Jazzmen Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert have each made compelling cases for All-Star bids this season, but whether or not they’ll get them is up in the air.
Joe Ingles’ participation in the Three-Point Contest isn’t guaranteed either, despite the fact that he’s currently second in the league from distance at 44.8 percent.
However, there are two Jazzmen that are definitely set to punch their tickets to New Orleans. Namely big man Trey Lyles and back-up point guard Dante Exum.
According to an announcement from the league on Wednesday, Lyles and Exum will both take part in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend. The game, which features first and second-year players, will be contested once again between a squad of players from the United States and a team representing the rest of the world.
Lyles was born in Saskatoon, Canada while Exum is a native Australian. The complete rosters for the game shake out as follows —
The #BBVARisingStars Rosters at #NBAAllStar! pic.twitter.com/0zYEFpwlMs
— 2017 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) January 25, 2017
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Although Exum has technically been in the league for three years, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the 21-year-old received an injury exception for missing all of last season.
Lyles has played in 47 games for the Jazz this season (three starts) and has improved his scoring to 8.0 points per game. Exum has started in 16 of his 33 games on the year and is averaging 5.9 points and just under two assists and two rebounds per contest.
Both players participated in the Rising Stars Challenge as rookies, but neither set the world ablaze with their play. Lyles teamed up with fellow Jazzman Raul Neto last season and scored one bucket. Rodney Hood played for Team USA in the game. Exum joined Gobert in the 2015 game, finishing with four points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Although the duo (particularly Exum) have had their ups and down this season, Jazz fans would probably agree that they continue to exhibit the kind of potential worthy of the Rising Stars label.
