NBA Rookie of the Year Odds: FanDuel Trader Explains Why Kon Knueppel is Favored Over Cooper Flagg

A massive shift in an NBA award market happened late last week, as Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel took over as the favorite to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.

Knueppel is having a historic shooting season as a rookie, and a recent foot injury for Flagg has completely tanked his Rookie of the Year stock. It’s unclear when Flagg will return to the lineup, but a FanDuel trader recently explained why his injury has altered the race for this award with just over a month left in the regular season.

"Flagg getting shut down or playing less will definitely alter the odds for ROY,” a FanDuel trader told Sports Illustrated. “Already a fairly close race, and we think if Flagg isn't contributing much down the stretch and Kon is contributing to a winning team, voters will recognize that.”

The trade mentioned that Knueppel originally moved from +500 to +300 after Flagg’s injury, but with the No. 1 overall pick missing even more time than originally expected, Knueppel is now the odds-on favorite.

NBA Rookie of the Year Odds for 2025-26 Season

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Kon Knueppel: -170
Cooper Flagg: +135
VJ Edgecombe: +10000

Flagg has missed seven straight games, and he’s only played 49 so far this season to Knueppel’s 60.

When both players were in the lineup, Flagg was the clear favorite in this market, but that has undoubtedly flipped since the All-Star break, especially with the Hornets in the mix to make the playoffs.

Just one week ago, Flagg was -450 in the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the Rookie of the Year, but just a few more missed games have completely flipped this market.

The FanDuel trader also brought up an interesting point about playing for a winning team. Knueppel and the Hornets have a real shot to make the playoffs, as they are just 3.5 games out of the No. 6 seed and two games out of the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Knueppel has been a huge part of the Hornets’ turnaround, averaging 19.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and an insane 44.0 percent from 3. He’s one of the best rookie 3-point shooters of all time, and it’s helped the Hornets go from having a top-five pick to a clear play-in team.

Recently, NBA analyst Zach Lowe shared a wild stat for Knueppel, stating that there have been six seasons in NBA history where a player has played at least 2,000 minutes, shot 43 percent of better from 3 and attempted at least eight shots from beyond the arc per 36 minutes.

There are three times that Steph Curry completed the feat, while the other three players to reach that threshold are Klay Thompson, Desmond Bane and Duncan Robinson. Now, Knueppel is on pace to be the seventh. That’s pretty insane.

Bettors shouldn’t totally discount Flagg in this market though, as he still is just +135 to win. There is an argument for Flagg’s value to Dallas (the team is just 4-7 in the 11 games that he’s missed), and he is averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 30.2 percent from 3.

The problem is that Flagg’s efficiency isn’t anywhere near Knueppel’s and their scoring numbers have gotten closer and closer as the season has gone along.

Unless Flagg returns to have a massive final month, it’s looking more and more like Knueppel will win the Rookie of the Year.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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