Denver Nuggets rookie guard Bones Hyland will replace injured Sacramento Kings rookie guard Davion Mitchell in the 2022 Clorox Rising Stars, which will be played on Friday, Feb. 18 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Hyland, 21, becomes the 15th Nuggets player in franchise history to represent Denver at the Rising Stars Challenge and is the second consecutive season that the Nuggets have had at least one player invited (Porter Jr. and Campazzo were both selected last season).
Bones has appeared in 46 games (three starts) for Denver this season, averaging 8.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.0 minutes per game. Over his last 17 games he is averaging 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting .402 from three-point range and .889 from the charity stripe. Among rookies he currently ranks first in free throw percentage (.881), tied for third in threes per game (1.7), third in total threes (79) and 13th in points per game (8.8).
The Wilmington, Delaware native has helped Denver to a 13-3 record in games when he scores in double-figures, including going 8-0 in games with 15+ points. He posted a career-high 27 points (6-10 3FG) to go with 10 rebounds and two assists on Jan. 15 vs. LA Lakers, becoming the only rookie this season with 27+ points, 10+ rebounds and 2+ assists in a game and just the third Nugget ever to post 27+ points and 6+ threes off the bench in a game (Will Barton and Wilson Chandler are others).
Hyland was selected by Denver with the 26th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft after spending two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth University. In his final season he was named the 2020-21 A-10 Player of the Year, leading the conference in scoring (19.5 ppg) and three-pointers made per game (2.9), becoming the first sophomore in VCU history to make himself eligible for the NBA draft. Hyland set a freshman record at VCU with 63 made threes and was a 2019-20 A-10 All-Freshman team selection.
Under a new format, the Clorox Rising Stars will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games. The playing rosters are composed of 12 NBA rookies, 12 NBA sophomores and four elite young players from NBA G League Ignite. The team rosters are available here. The game will be played on Friday, Feb. 18 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The annual showcase of premier young talent at NBA All-Star will air live on TNT and ESPN Radio in the United States at 9 p.m. ET.
