NBA Rookie of the Year Odds: Cooper Flagg Skyrockets to Favorite After Consecutive Scoring Outbursts

A complete flip in the odds to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award has happened in less than a week.

Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg – the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft – has gone from a major underdog to a -200 favorite in the latest odds at DraftKings, even though he was second in a recent poll by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

On Friday, Bontemps released a poll of likely award voters surrounding the Rookie of the Year race, and Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel jumped from -250 to -1800 to win the award after receiving 80 first-place votes to Flagg’s 20.

Well, all it took was a couple big games for Flagg for oddsmakers to completely change their tune.

After the Mavs star dropped 51 points against the Orlando Magic on Friday, Flagg immediately shortened the odds in this market, pushing Knueppel back down to -350 to win the Rookie of the Year.

Then, a 45-point, eight-rebound, nine-assist game in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers (on national television) completely flipped this market, as Flagg is now back to the favorite for the first time in several weeks. Knueppel had just 11 points in Sunday’s win over Minnesota, and he’s actually seen his points per game average drop a little since March 1.

That has opened the door for Flagg, who is viewed as the only other player that can win this award with VJ Edgecombe (+50000) a distant third.

NBA Rookie of the Year Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Cooper Flagg: -200
Kon Knueppel: +150
VJ Edgecombe: +50000

Dallas has four games remaining in the 2025-26 season while the Hornets have just three. That gives Flagg an extra game to stake his claim on the Rookie of the Year, and it’s hard to argue that he’s been the most impressive rookie this season, even though Knueppel has posted unreal shooting numbers for a first-year player.

Flagg has been asked to carry a No. 1 workload on a nightly basis for a banged-up Dallas team, and he’s responded by improving as a scorer as the season has gone along. The Hornets may have a better record than the Mavericks, but the Rookie of the Year award traditionally doesn’t factor in team performance nearly as much as the MVP.

After entering the season as the clear favorite in this market, Flagg’s late push appears to be enough to convince oddsmakers that he should win this award. It’ll be interesting to see how much voters value Charlotte’s team performance in Knueppel’s case, but the late momentum for Flagg is certainly worth monitoring over the last week of the regular season.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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