Cooper Flagg No Longer Betting Favorite for Rookie of the Year

The Dallas Mavericks rookie from Newport, Maine, previously opened the season as the far-and-away favorite to win the award.

While the race is still tight, key factors that could prevent Cooper Flagg from winning Rookie of the Year include the rise and record-breaking season of his former Duke teammate and current Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, along with the NBA’s new minimum games requirement for end-of-season awards, which Flagg is in danger of missing due to injuries that have kept him out of several games.

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As of the morning of March 4th, 2026, a check of the DraftKings odds for NBA Rookie of the Year shows three eligible bets.

Those bets are VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers at +10000, Flagg at +130, and Knueppel at -160. That means a $100 bet would return $10,000 in profit on Edgecombe if it wins, $130 in profit on Flagg, and about $63 in profit on Knueppel, who is the new favorite.

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While these odds are always changing and can shift throughout the season, they look very different from where things stood when the category first opened in June of 2025.

At that time, Edgecombe opened at +2200, Flagg was the early favorite at -200, and Knueppel—who is now the favorite—began at +4000.

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And there you have it! With the minimum game restriction rule in place and the consistency of his former Duke teammate, Cooper Flagg is no longer the betting favorite for this award.

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