NBA Rookie of the Year odds, prediction: Caleb Wilson undervalued with a chip on his shoulder

Day 1 of the 2026 NBA Draft is in the books after a night that featured a flurry of trading activity as the evening wore on.The beginning of the night went as many had expected once the NBA Lottery showed which teams would pick at the top of the draft.Standout BYU forward AJ Dybantsa was taken No.

1 overall by the Wizards, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson went second to the Jazz, Duke forward Cameron Boozer was the third pick for the Grizzlies, and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson went to the Bulls at No.4.The latest NBA Rookie of the Year odds don’t exactly match the draft board, though.

Boozer tops the board with +240 odds, followed by Peterson and Dybantsa (+400), Darius Acuff (+450), who was drafted seventh by the Kings, and Wilson (+950).The rest of the field is 15-1 or longer.NBA Summer League in July could very easily shift the odds before the season tips, but these opening lines present bettors with an early opportunity to get ahead of the market.Rookie of the Year has historically been a straightforward award.

It mostly comes down to counting stats for rookies, and circumstances play a big role in how impactful a player can be on their team.The talent at the top of this draft is fairly equal across the board.Peterson entered his freshman season as the presumptive No.

1 pick, Dybantsa overtook him by season’s end and led Division I in scoring, and Boozer won nearly every college award an individual player can achieve.Any of those three players could have been the No.1 pick and no one would have blinked.

That doesn’t mean they will all end up in situations that make them look like the best rookie in the NBA next season.The Wizards should do everything possible to accelerate Dybantsa’s growth by putting the ball in his hands, but it’s unclear if that will be the case, looking at their roster.Washington just signed Trae Young to a $212 million deal, and his reputation in Atlanta wasn’t exactly collaborative.

Maybe he cedes control to the rookie, bu...