NBA Rookie of the Year Odds for 2025-26 Season: Cooper Flagg Opens as Odds-On Favorite

Breaking down the odds to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year award in the 2025-26 season.

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg is the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg is expected to take the NBA by storm in the 2025-26 season, as the Dallas Mavericks forward is set at -170 to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Flagg is the clear favorite in this market, as no other player is set at shorter than 10/1 odds entering the start of the season. No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper, No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe, No. 5 overall pick Ace Bailey and No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson are all tied for second in the latest betting odds. 

It seems like a foregone conclusion that Flagg will win Rookie of the Year, but do other players have a case?

Let’s dive into the latest odds and some predictions for betting this market in the 2025-26 season. 

NBA Rookie of the Year Odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

• Cooper Flagg: -170
• VJ Edgecombe: +1000
• Tre Johnson: +1000
• Dylan Harper: +1000
• Ace Bailey: +1000
• Kon Knueppel: +1400
• Kasparas Jakucionis: +3000
• Jeremiah Fears: +4000
• Egor Demin: +4000
• Derik Queen: +5000
• Hansen Yang: +5000
• Walter Clayton Jr.: +6000

One of the keys when it comes to betting the Rookie of the Year award is opportunity. Players aren’t going to be judged nearly as much on team success, but they do need to put up impressive statistics to garner attention in this market.

Castle did not play for a playoff team last season, but he was given the opportunity to play a major role and eventually start for the San Antonio Spurs. The player picked before him – Houston’s Reed Sheppard – did not crack Ime Udoka’s rotation as a rookie.

So, where a player is drafted won’t matter if there isn’t a direct path to playing team – and touches – in the 2025-26 season. 

With that in mind, here are three players to watch in this market. 

NBA Rookie of the Year Predictions and Picks

Cooper Flagg (-170)

Flagg is going to start and play big minutes for the Mavericks from the jump in the 2025-26 season, and he should run away with this award due to his two-way impact.

Flagg is likely going to spend a lot of time as an on-ball creator with Kyrie Irving out of the lineup, and he’s coming off a freshman season at Duke where he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

I don’t love betting on Flagg at this price since one injury could derail his Rookie of the Year case, but he’s the favorite for a reason – the same way he was a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. 

Tre Johnson (+1000)

Johnson has a path to a lot of shots on a bad Washington Wizards team that is still clearly in a rebuild. 

The University of Texas star flashed some interesting scoring ability in Summer League, and the Wizards need one of their young players – Johnson, Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington to name a few – to pop as a go-to scorer if they want to truly rebuild this roster.

Johnson has a real chance to play a big role as a rookie, especially if the Wizards move on from Khris Middleton or CJ McCollum at the deadline. 

Ace Bailey (+1000)

Ace Bailey may have fallen to No. 5 in the 2025 NBA Draft, but he’s been dominant in the preseason, scoring 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting against Houston and 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting against San Antonio.

Bailey should get a chance to start and put up a ton of shots for a terrible Utah team, and he may end up putting up the best scoring numbers of any player in this draft.

Flagg’s all-around impact is what gives him the edge in this market, but Bailey (and Johnson to an extent) have the potential to be one of the leading scorers on their team from day one.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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