2021-22 NBA Rookie of the Year Betting Preview: Cade Cunningham Set to Validate Top Pick Status
The top-tier rookies won’t be on display Tuesday when the NBA season kicks off, but we’ll see the top five picks in action Wednesday.
SI Betting will make the case for each of the favorites for the NBA’s season-long individual awards leading into the season opener.
You can find the latest NBA futures odds from SI Sportsbook here. Let’s get into the Rookie of the Year favorites:
2021-22 NBA Awards Betting Previews: MVP | Rookie of the Year
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Jalen Green (+250)
Green’s path to the NBA is unique.
After a decorated high school career, Green opted to earn money right away by joining the NBA G League’s Ignite instead of attending college. He impressed in 15 games with the Ignite, averaging 17.9 points on 46% shooting and 36% from deep.
Prior to his G League stint, Green was the No. 2 player in the 2020 class behind only Cade Cunningham. Green and Cunningham went second and first, respectively, in the NBA Draft, arriving in different ways since Cunningham opted to play collegiately.
Houston was probably the best landing spot for Green, a 6-foot-6 scorer, among the lottery teams. Kevin Porter Jr., is already established as the point guard of the future, and the Rockets also have a potential franchise player in Christian Wood down low. The Rockets are unlikely to compete in the West (SI Sportsbook has their win total at 27.5), but Green can flourish as a scorer the way this roster is constructed.
If Green can help Houston exceed expectations, form a promising backcourt alongside Porter and post gaudy scoring numbers, he can be the Rookie of the Year.
Cade Cunningham (+250)
Cunningham is dealing with a right ankle injury that has largely kept him out of Pistons training camp and will likely prevent him from playing in any preseason games. Those reps and ramp-up time are important for any rookie, even a First-Team All-American like Cunningham. But he was the No. 1 pick for a reason.
In his one year at Oklahoma State, Cunningham averaged 20.1 points and shot 40% from three-point range. Cunningham wasn’t an elite distributor—he averaged more turnovers per game (4.0) than assists (3.5)—but he made up for that with his scoring and shooting numbers.
Cunningham is walking into a favorable situation for his ROY campaign. Detroit features talented young players like Saddiq Bey and Killian Hayes, and Jerami Grant asserted himself as a 20-point per game scorer last season. Still, Cunningham won’t need to fight for playing time or the ball. Detroit will again be a bottom-tier team.
The only first-year player on a bad team to claim Rookie of the Year honors in the last five years was Luka Dončić, who, like Cunningham, is also an oversized guard who can shoot it from deep. The stats will be there for Cunningham to make his case.
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Jalen Suggs (+750)
Suggs was a bit of a do-everything player in his one year at Gonzaga. The Magic, his new team, need help everywhere.
After trading Nikola Vučević last year, the team finished with its worst winning percentage in seven years. In exchange, the Magic got a lot younger — the projected starting five, including Suggs, only has one player older than 23: Terrence Ross.
Orlando was the second-worst offensive team in the NBA last season and a bottom-tier defensive team. Suggs, a former football player, is a stout defender and a capable scorer, averaging more than 14 points per game on 50% shooting.
A Rookie of the Year season for Suggs would mean Orlando does not finish with the worst record in the NBA as projected, Suggs fills up the stat sheet in the same manner he did in college both offensively and defensively and he flashes potential as a two-way guard alongside second-year point guard Cole Anthony.
Suggs winning this award would likely resemble a Malcolm Brogdon-type rookie season, rather than an Andrew Wiggins-esque campaign.
Evan Mobley (+900)
It’s extremely rare for a big man to win Rookie of the Year. Blake Griffin and Karl Anthony Towns are the only power forwards or centers to do so since 2010.
So, what does Mobley have to do to be an outlier? Average a double-double, for starters, since Towns and Griffin both averaged double-digit points and rebounds as rookies. Mobley was one of the best college rebounders last year with USC.
Check out the latest Rookie of the Year odds at SI Sportsbook
Being paired with Jarrett Allen to form a sizable front court could bode well for Mobley’s ROY prospects. Allen has never been a score-first player and he does most of his work around the rim. Mobley was an infrequent three-point shooter with USC, taking just 1.2 per game and shooting 30%, but he may be forced to expand his range to space the floor with Allen down low.
He’ll also benefit from playing with two good, young distributors in Colin Sexton and Darius Garland, who can set him up with easy buckets.
Mobley will have to do a lot to stand out as a rookie not only playing with the lowly Cavaliers but also as a center in a class with exciting, high-scoring guards.
THE PICK: Cunningham.
It’s been three years since a No. 1 pick won rookie of the year (Ben Simmons, drafted in 2016, won the award in the 2017-2018 season). Cunningham bursts onto the scene as a volume scorer for Detroit and ends that streak this year.
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