NBA draft shifts Cooper Flagg's biggest ROY threats

Miami Herald

11 hours ago

Cooper Flagg is still the prohibitive favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors next season, but the players viewed as his biggest competition shifted after the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Flagg opened as the -400 ROY favorite by BetMGM, although those odds were trimmed to -225 with the No. 1 overall pick going to a Dallas Mavericks team that doesn't necessarily need him to be a standout star as a rookie.
Flagg has drawn the second most ROY bets at 13.0 percent and money at 13.6 percent, but he is not among the book's three biggest liabilities.
The top honor there goes to Dylan Harper, who was selected second overall by the San Antonio Spurs. He leads all players in being backed by 21.7 percent of the tickets and 29.8 percent of the action. However, like Flagg, Harper steps into a situation where he has established star teammates in Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox.
That's the main reason behind Harper having only the fourth shortest ROY odds at +1100 at BetMGM. He is behind Flagg, Tre Johnson (+700) and Ace Bailey (+800). Johnson, a bucket-filler from Texas, will have an opportunity to be a primary scoring option with the Washington Wizards, who selected him sixth overall. Bailey, picked fifth overall, landed with a Utah team in desperate need of a young star who can contribute immediately.
The Jazz also selected former Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. with the 18th overall pick. Despite not being viewed as a particularly strong ballhandler, Clayton was the book's second biggest liability for ROY honors as a +10000 longshot, prompting his odds to fall to +6600.
No. 3 in terms of BetMGM's biggest liabilities was former Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, who moved from +4000 to +3500 after being selected seventh overall by the New Orleans Pelicans.
The same top four candidates lead the board at DraftKings, but in a different order. Following Flagg (-185) is Harper (+900), Bailey (+950) and Johnson (+1000).
DraftKings is also offering a slew of Flagg-specific props, including separate Over/Under markets on averaging 16.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game during the regular season. DraftKings is also offering a parlay at +285 odds that Flagg will average at least 18 points and six rebounds per game.
Frisky bettors can choose a three-way parlay at +6500 that adds the Mavericks winning the Southwest Division.
Following the draft, Dallas was being offered at +1500 to win the division, +2500 to win the Western Conference and +4000 to win the 2025-26 NBA title.
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