Pelicans guards Dyson Daniels, Jordan Hawkins to play in Rising Stars game on All-Star Weekend

NEW ORLEANS – The NBA announced today that Pelicans guards Dyson Daniels and Jordan Hawkins have been selected to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of NBA All-Star 2024. The NBA’s annual showcase of premier young talent will air live at 8 p.m. CT on TNT.

For the third straight season, Panini Rising Stars will feature a three-game mini tournament among four teams comprised of NBA rookies, sophomores and NBA G League players. The pool of 28 players for Panini Rising Stars consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 NBA sophomores and seven NBA G League players.

The combined 21 NBA players for Panini Rising Stars, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the NBA league office, will comprise the fourth team.

Daniels, 6-7, 203, who was selected 8th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, is averaging 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his sophomore season. The Bendigo, Australia, native leads all rookies and sophomores with 60 steals this season, tying him for eighth in the NBA. Daniels’s 128 deflections ranks sixth in the NBA and leads all first and second year players.

Hawkins, 6-5, 192, who was selected 14th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Connecticut, is averaging 10.5 points while shooting .391 from three-point range, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Hawkins leads all rookies and ranks second among NBA rookies and sophomores with 91 made threes this season. Hawkins ranks eighth among NBA rookies in scoring, while averaging the second-fewest minutes per game of that group (21.6 mpg). Hawkins is one of three rookies with multiple 30-point games this season, and one of eight first or second year players.

Daniels and Hawkins become the tenth and eleventh players in New Orleans franchise history to participate in the Rookie Challenge/Rising Stars Game, joining Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, Buddy Hield, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Nicolò Melli, Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy III.