NBA betting preview: Paolo Banchero Rookie of the Year chances and other award picks
Oddsmakers were late to identify Paolo Banchero as the No. 1 overall pick of the NBA draft, but they're not making the same mistake for Rookie of the Year.
Banchero is a huge favorite at BetMGM to be the top rookie this season. No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren's season-ending foot injury made Banchero an even easier pick. Here are the Rookie of the Year odds:
Paolo Banchero +200
Keegan Murray +500
Jaden Ivey +550
Jabari Smith Jr +600
Bennedict Mathurin +1000
All other players are +2000 or longer odds.
Our Yahoo Sportsbook team came up with our best bets for Rookie of the Year and all other non-MVP awards for this NBA season (we gave our best MVP bets earlier this week):
GREG BRAINOS: Usage is the name of the game when it comes to Rookie of the Year, so I’m buying in on Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray at +500. After averaging 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Iowa Hawkeyes last year, the fourth overall pick put on a show in the Summer League, where he walked away with MVP honors. He’ll get plenty of run as a starter and if the Kings make the playoffs, Murray will be a big reason why.
Give a man a Dougie and he’ll Dougie for a day. Teach a man to Dougie and he’ll Dougie for a lifetime. John Wall at 50-to-1 for Sixth Man of the Year has my antennas way up. I’m expecting him to play extended minutes off the bench, similar to Tyler Herro and Jordan Poole. He looked like the old John Wall against Minnesota, which makes it easy to envision 18 points and eight assists per game on a Clippers team that has some serious juice.
NICK BROMBERG: If the Detroit Pistons are going to make a run at a play-in spot, they’re going to need Jaden Ivey to be an immediate complement to Cade Cunningham. Ivey’s the No. 3 favorite for ROY at +550 and I think he’s a better play than Paolo Banchero or even Bennedict Mathurin (+1000) as the Pacers could immediately start tanking. Jabari Smith Jr. at +600 may be worth a shot too.
Norm Powell (+1400) for Sixth Man of the Year also looks like great value. The Clippers enter the season with both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard healthy and Powell should be a critical part of their five-out lineups. Don’t be surprised if the Clips are a top-three seed in the West.
FRANK SCHWAB: Paolo Banchero probably will win Rookie of the Year, but I can’t bet him at +200 odds. One long shot that could cash is forward Tari Eason of the Houston Rockets at 40-to-1. He was 80-to-1 last week so he's getting on the radar of oddsmakers and bettors. NBA GMs voted Eason, the 17th pick, as the biggest steal of the draft in NBA.com’s annual survey. He was voted first-team in the Summer League after averaging 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1 block per game. Rockets assistant John Lucas, who was filling in as head coach when Paul Silas was out due to COVID-19 protocols, had high praise for the rookie.
Rockets assistant coach John Lucas was spot on when he compared the play of rookie Tari Eason to an NBA Hall of Fame forward.
“He is the prime example of a better Dennis Rodman,” Lucas said after the game. #LightTheFuse #Sarge @TAR13ASON @TheRocketsWire @dennisrodman pic.twitter.com/9WefWGiyre— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 8, 2022
It’s not like the rebuilding Rockets have any reason to not give him playing time. Will he win ROY? Probably not, but he’s worth a shot at those odds. Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers, at +1000, is another rookie who should play a lot right away and could put up nice numbers.
And why not a little bit on New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones to be Most Improved Player at 66-to-1. Jones was good as a rookie but not good enough to be considered a star already (hence, room for improvement) and is already popular enough that he’ll get some buzz if he takes a step forward.
