NBA
The 2015 Rookie-Sophomore Field Of Players
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All posts by Basketball InsidersUpdated3 hours ago on April 19, 2024
With the NBA announcing that the Rising Star Challenge will now feature U.S. rookies and sophomores facing off against international rookies and sophomores, with NBA assistant coaches selecting 10 U.S. players and 10 international players for the game, with one ballot for each of the NBA’s 30 teams.
Both 10-man rosters will include four guards, four frontcourt players and two players regardless of position. Each team will also feature a minimum of three first-year players and three second-year players among its 10 spots.
Basketball Insiders put together this list to show the pool of players that each team will likely be selected from. Here are the top U.S. and World first- and second-year players:
| US Players | PPG | World Players | PPG |
| Victor Oladipo (Sophomore G) | 16.3 | Andrew Wiggins (Rookie G) | 15.1 |
| Michael Carter-Williams (Sophomore G) | 15.2 | Giannis Antetokounmpo (Sophomore F) | 11.7 |
| Shabazz Muhammad (Sophomore F) | 13.7 | Kelly Olynyk (Sophomore C) | 11.3 |
| Trey Burke (Sophomore G) | 12.8 | Gorgui Dieng (Sophomore C) | 10 |
| Robert Covington (Sophomore F) | 12.4 | Dennis Schroder (Sophomore G) | 8 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Sophomore G) | 11.9 | Nikola Mirotic (Rookie G) | 7.9 |
| Ben McLemore (Sophomore G) | 11.8 | Bojan Bogdanovic (Rookie G) | 7.5 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. (Sophomore G) | 11 | Steven Adams (Sophomore C) | 7.3 |
| Mason Plumlee (Sophomore C) | 10.4 | Rudy Gobert (Sophomore C) | 6.6 |
| Solomon Hill (Sophomore F) | 10.1 | Jusuf Nurkic (Rookie C) | 6.6 |
| K.J. McDaniels (Rookie F) | 9 | Alex Len (Sophomore C) | 6.3 |
| Zach LaVine (Rookie G) | 8.4 | Pero Antic (Rookie F) | 6.1 |
| Nerlens Noel (Rookie C) | 8.1 | Anthony Bennett (Sophomore F) | 6 |
| Cody Zeller (Sophomore F) | 7.7 | Sergey Karasev (Sophomore G) | 5.2 |
| Elfrid Payton (Rookie G) | 7.6 | Kostas Papanikolaou (Rookie F) | 4.8 |
| Marcus Smart (Rookie G) | 6.7 | Dante Exum (Rookie G) | 4.7 |
| Aaron Gordon (Rookie F) | 6 | Damjan Rudez (Rookie F) | 4.2 |
| Shane Larkin (Sophomore G) | 5.8 | Nik Stauskas (Rookie G) | 3.6 |
| Shabazz Napier (Rookie G) | 5.7 | Joe Ingles (Rookie G) | 3.4 |
| P.J. Hairston (Rookie G) | 5.7 | Tyler Ennis (Rookie (G) | 3.1 |
The head coaches for each team will be an assistant from the 2015 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs. The Eastern Conference and Western Conference All-Star Game coaches will be determined by the best record in the conference through games played on Sunday, Feb. 1.
