NBA rookie of the year top future picks & best odds

The NBA draft was yesterday and it’s officially time to look at the NBA rookie of the year odds. Now that each rookie has a team, we can look at who will have a big role and project their success in year one. This year was a top heavy draft with three guys who could have gone number one overall and each of those three prospects appear to be set up to succeed. When looking at the draft and how certain teams project to line up, we have three picks for the rookie of the year award. Let’s get into it.

Paolo Banchero to Win Rookie of the Year

Paolo Banchero was the first overall pick and is the favorite with the top sportsbooks to win this award. It may be a little chalk, but Banchero is set up to succeed. He is going to a young Orlando Magic team that has a lot of talent. Banchero will get a ton of chances to score and he has proven he is more than capable of doing that. In college at Duke, Banchero was on a loaded team and still was the brightest star. He knew how to play on a talented team and that sort of attitude makes him a perfect fit for the Magic. Of the top three picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, Banchero is likely to make the biggest impact his rookie year and it makes it worth betting on him to win the rookie of the year award.

Also, four of the past ten years, the rookie of the year was the first overall pick. Sometimes NBA teams get it right and this is shaping up to be one of those years. In five years Banchero may not be the best player from this draft but in year one, he is the most NBA ready prospect with the fewest flaws. Also, if the Magic are as good as some NBA experts project, the hype around Banchero’s impact will build and the narrative will help Banchero win this award.

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Benedict Mathurin to Win Rookie of the Year

Benedict Mathurin was an absolute baller at the University of Arizona and he was rewarded by getting picked sixth overall in the NBA draft to the Indiana Pacers. Mathurin is a great scorer who is expected to become a good defender in the future. For the rookie of the year award, defense is helpful but not a pre-requisite. Mathurin is an NBA ready player and he could be a starter for the Pacers off the bat. Indiana has two guards who are great passers and they will consistently set Mathurin up to succeed. If Mathurin is good enough defensively to get big minutes, he could lead all rookies in scoring and that has traditionally been an indicator to who will win the rookie of the year. At this number, it’s worth betting on.

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Johnny Davis to Win Rookie of the Year

Johnny Davis is a lot like Mathurin. He is an NBA ready prospect who will get big minutes off the jump. At the University of Wisconsin, Johnny Davis was an electrifying scorer and carried a pretty mediocre team to a great season. Davis, on day one, should get a lot of minutes for the Washington Wizards because he just knows how to put the ball in the basket. Sometimes, it can really be that simple and the Wizards just don’t have a lot of scoring options. Because of that, Davis will get a lot of minutes and be a very impactful player on day one. He will be a great running mate with Wizards star Bradley Beal and both of them should light up the scoreboard.

The biggest issue with Davis winning this award is that the Wizards may be too bad. In the past NBA season, Jalen Green averaged a ton of points but was completely ignored on rookie of the year ballots because his team, the Houston Rockets, stunk. If the Wizards are really bad, then Davis will be hindered by that. However, at +1500, it’s worth betting on the scoring ability and hoping that the Wizards can be surprisingly good.

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All in all, we had a pattern with these picks. All three of these picks are good scorers who will put up the counting stats that voters want to see. Also, all of our picks have a clear path to getting big minutes. In order to win the rookie of the year award, you need to play a lot and be impactful. It’s clear that all three of these guys will get a lot of playing time as things stand right now. There will be plenty of time to bet on more rookie of the year futures throughout the season, but right after the draft, these three guys present the most value.

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