Tag: NBA Rookie of the Year

DraftKings thinks Jared McCain is a longshot to win NBA Rookie of the Year

Few rookies can ask for a better situation than Jared McCain gets in Philadelphia, but that hasn’t translated to good Rookie of the Year odds.

[autotag]Jared McCain[/autotag] ended up in one of the best situations an NBA rookie can hope for.

With the Philadelphia 76ers drafting him with the 16th overall pick on Wednesday, he gets to share the court with superstars like Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Embiid won the league MVP award two seasons ago and finished second in each of the two previous seasons of voting, and Maxey won the Most Improved Player last season. On top of that, there’s noise of the Sixers adding stars like Paul George in free agency.

That situation, on top of McCain’s 41% 3-point percentage in college, should theoretically put him in position to play a key role on a championship favorite from year one. That hasn’t translated to low odds for the Rookie of the Year award, however.

As of Sunday afternoon, the DraftKings Sportsbook had McCain as a +4000 long shot to win the hardware this season, the 14th-lowest odds of any first-year player.

Despite Zaccharie Risacher coming off the board first to the Atlanta Hawks, second overall pick Alexandre Sarr takes the crown as the betting favorite for the award at +350.

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Here are the top 14 players on the odds board for the award, including everyone with lower odds than McCain.

Odds
Alexandre Sarr (Washington Wizards) +350
Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks) +450
Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs) +700
Zach Edey (Memphis Grizzlies) +1100
Tidjane Salaun (Charlotte Hornets) +1200
Reed Sheppard (Houston Rockets) +1200
Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers) +1200
Dalton Knecht (Los Angeles Lakers) +1200
Cody Williams (Utah Jazz) +1400
Ron Holland (Detroit Pistons) +1500
Rob Dillingham (Memphis Grizzlies) +1800
Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls) +2000
Devin Carter (Sacramento Kings) +3000
Jared McCain (Philadelphia 76ers) +4000

 

McCain’s former Duke teammate, Kyle Filipowski, sits an even larger long shot at +7500 after getting drafted by the Utah Jazz in the second round.

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Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire

Jalen Williams is quietly having a Rookie of the Year-caliber season for the Thunder

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams had the best game any rookie has had so far this season.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our basketball newsletter where we’ll prep you for the tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Jalen Williams was a standout during the 2022 NBA Draft Combine and skyrocketed up big boards to become a lottery pick for the Thunder.

He just had the best game of his professional career during a win over the Jazz on Sunday, finishing with 32 points (12-15 FG, 4-5 3P), five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.

This was arguably the best game any rookie has had so far this season. In fact, only three rookies have ever recorded a 30-5-5 performance with a more efficient true shooting percentage: Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

But this wasn’t just one good game for Williams, who has contributed well throughout the season for Oklahoma City. This is just yet another wonderful game from the former Santa Clara standout.

Williams is averaging more than 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. Among the last ten rookies to accomplish as much, all but one (Cade Cunningham) either won Rookie of the Year or finished as the runner-up.

These are arbitrary thresholds, of course, but they speak to the versatility he provides for the Thunder. The catch-all metrics value Williams, too. Compare his career progression to other perimeter candidates in the Rookie of the Year race using DARKO’s DPM, which is the most trusted impact metric:

(DARKO)

Williams began his career with the lowest projection of the bunch between himself, Paolo Banchero, Bennedict Mathurin, and Jaden Ivey.

But he has managed to trend upward throughout the season and has recently even surpassed Banchero for the highest grade among the group.

According to the catch-all metric DRIP, only Utah’s Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler have exceeded preseason expectations more than Williams.

Banchero (-2500) is the heavy favorite to win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year. Mathurin (+1800) is still viewed as the runner-up, though he currently has a considerable distance behind Banchero.

Williams (+4000) is a massive longshot, but he could be a sleeper hiding in plain sight. It doesn’t seem likely that he passes Banchero, but if he keeps up his hot stretch for the remainder of the season, he could steal some votes.

Even if he doesn’t win the award, however, it is still worth celebrating the fact that the No. 12 overall pick is having a Rookie of the Year-caliber season in Oklahoma City.

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The Tip-Off

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

NBA content from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

The biggest story in the NBA right now is the off-court drama surrounding Ja Morant. My friend and colleague, Mike Sykes, has more:

“The Grizzlies’ point guard hasn’t been charged on any of this alleged behavior, but none of it is a good look. And he’s also compounded all this drama with some absolutely confounding decisions in recent days. All of that has led to a brief suspension by the Grizzlies for their All-Star point guard.”

Let’s hope that Morant gets the help he needs while he is away from the team.

One to Watch

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

(All odds via Tipico.)

Heat (-2.5, -150) vs. Hawks (+130), O/U 229.5, 7:30 PM ET

The Heat are a game-and-a-half ahead of the Hawks in the standings, but both these teams are underperforming so far this season. They desperately need wins to try and catch the Nets and become the No. 6 seed so they can avoid the play-in tournament.

Shootaround

For The Win

— 2023 NBA Mock Draft: Predicting all 58 picks before March Madness begins

— Luka Dončić and Devin Booker got so heated during another tense Suns-Mavs battle

— Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a triple-double after an intentional miss, but Prince Grimes says the NBA should reverse his cheap rebound

— HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto discusses the latest updates about the Hawks

NBA awards odds entering the 2022-23 season: Luka Doncic is favored to take home the MVP

Top 10 odds for every award entering the NBA season.

Bookmark this link. It’ll make for a fun exercise at the end of the NBA season to go back and see how wrong (or right?!) bookmakers were about awards in 2022-23.

This is a peek at top 10 odds for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player and Coach of the Year.

We all think we have a handle on where things are headed, but how many people are willing to put their money on it? These odds from BetMGM show just how much money your opinions are worth.

(Odds are from before the season-opening games Tuesday.)

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Paolo Banchero becomes stronger Rookie of the Year favorite after Chet Holmgren is ruled out for season

Holmgren has a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.

Betting for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award has been flipped on its head following Thursday’s news that Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren is out for the season with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot.

It’s devastating news for the 20-year-old, and also for his bettors. Holmgren had been among the top two favorites to win the award since being selected second overall in the July draft. His +380 odds at Tipico Sportsbook on Wednesday were second-shortest behind Orlando top pick Paolo Banchero’s +300.

However, once reports of potential ligament damage in his foot came out, those odds plummeted to +650 by Thursday morning.

Bets on Holmgren to win the award at Tipico will void, as his rookie eligibility will roll over to next season.

Now, Banchero at +240 has a firm hold on the top odds by a lot. Early bettors of his got those odds a lot longer. The next shortest odds belong to Sacramento’s Keegan Murray +500, followed by Detroit’s Jaden Ivey +600 and Houston’s Jabari Smith at +650.

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Layup Lines: Your annual reminder to stay calm, it’s just Summer League

Let’s just enjoy the basketball without the hyperbole.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our daily NBA newsletter where we’ll prep you for a tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

The NBA 2K23 Summer League in Las Vegas tips off tonight, as the other 22 teams begin to join the eight that have already been active in the Utah and California leagues.In the past week, we were treated to several rookies putting up awesome performances, including: No. 4 draft pick Keegan Murray going off for 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, No. 12 pick Jalen Williams combining for 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting through two games and even No. 27 pick Nikola Jovic scoring 25 on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

But no one garnered more excitement than Chet Holmgren. In his first game, on Tuesday, the 7-footer scored 23 points (7-of-9 FG) with seven rebounds, four assists and a summer-league record six blocks. People were absolutely losing their minds over his jaw-dropping performance.

Apparently on a GOAT track already, Holmgren’s odds to win Rookie of the Year started to move after just that one game. He even became the favorite at one sportsbook – before we even had a chance to see top overall pick Paolo Banchero or No. 3 pick Jabari Smith.

Listen, I just need everybody to relax. Holmgren is absolutely a unicorn and it was fun to see some of the things he can bring to the table. But this is summer league. He’s not the first to have a mind-blowing game, and he won’t be the last. We’re almost guaranteed to get a few more incredible games, and some of those players won’t sniff an actual NBA roster. The level of competition just simply doesn’t compare to what players will see in an actual NBA game.

The Magic and Rockets get things started in Vegas tonight, which means Banchero and Smith are likely to make their debuts against one another. It’ll be exciting, and we might even get a glimpse of some of the things that made them top draft picks. What we won’t know after tonight is who’s going to the Hall of Fame. Let’s just enjoy the basketball without the hyperbole.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

I had a chance to chat with Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton about the team’s rebuild, his expanded role on the floor and his new partnership off the court. But one fun anecdote Haliburton shared with me was about a bet he made that really could’ve altered the direction of his life.

He had a two-month timeframe to land his first college offer. And if it didn’t come, he would’ve played football.

“My freshman or sophomore year of high school, I hadn’t got a Division I offer yet, I hadn’t got a scholarship offer yet. And everybody was just sweating me to play football, along with our football coach at the time. So I made a bet with him that if I didn’t have a scholarship offer in the next two months that I would go play football — and I did not want to play football at all. I really didn’t know if I was going to get a scholarship offer, and then I got one.”

Haliburton ended up going to Iowa State, but that first offer was from IUPUI — in Indiana. So the Pacers might have the local university to thank for putting Haliburton on a path to become their point guard today.

One to Watch

(All odds via Tipico.)

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

New York Liberty (+160) at Phoenix Mercury (-4.5, -200), O/U 164.5, 10 PM ET

I’m picking the Mercury to cover the spread in a win. They’ll have to slow down Sabrina Ionescu, who just dropped a historic triple-double in a win over the Aces last night, but they should be up to it at home against a team playing the second night of a back-to-back.

Shootaround

— The Lakers may have pulled off the sneaky-best move of this NBA offseason

— Here’s a list of the 9 best free agents remaining

— Rudy Gobert gave a hilarious shoutout to Timberwolves fans at his introductory press conference

— You may have seen a Kenneth Lofton Jr. taking the floor for the Grizzlies in the summer league. And no, his dad isn’t who you’re thinking of

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Chet Holmgren’s Rookie of the Year odds moved up after an incredible NBA Summer League debut

One game is all it took.

After just one NBA Summer League game, albeit a very impressive one, Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren’s odds to win Rookie of the Year have moved.

The No. 2 overall pick absolutely dominated in his almost-NBA debut, scoring 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a summer league-record six blocks. Apparently that was all people needed to see.

Holmgren’s already consensus top-three odds strengthened at a few sportsbooks, and at least one other book now has him as the betting favorite. The 7-footer jumped from +500 to +360 at FanDuel, according to Action Network, leaping top overall draft pick Paolo Banchero.

His odds held steady at +400 and third-shortest at Tipico Sportsbook, as they were after the draft, trailing Banchero at +300 and No. 3 pick Jabari Smith at +350. But other places saw more movement. Holmgren moved from +500 to +400 at BetRivers and +400 to +350 at Caesars.

Banchero is expected to make his summer league debut with the Magic on Thursday against Smith and the Rockets. No. 4 pick Jaden Ivey and No. 5 Keegan Murray — who has also shined in early action — have the next best odds.

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Magic top pick Paolo Banchero opens as betting favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year

The order might not be what you expect after No. 1.

Paolo Banchero’s status as the No. 1 overall pick might’ve been in question leading up to Thursday’s NBA Draft, but never was his talent. The Orlando Magic first-rounder opened Friday as the betting favorite to win the 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year at +300 odds on Tipico Sportsbook.

The players that follow don’t all fall in the order they were drafted, however. No. 3 pick Jabari Smith has the second-shortest odds at +350, followed by No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren at +400. No. 5 Jaden Ivey (+500) and No. 4 Keegan Murray (+750) round out the top five before the odds start to lengthen out a little more.

2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year Odds

If the betting drama leading into the draft is any indication, it’s hard to consider any of these guys a sure bet. But it should make for a thrilling finish that goes to the end of the season.

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Alabama Morning Drive: Former Auburn WR coach reportedly joining Tide staff

Your Wednesday, March 2 Alabama Morning Drive

At Roll Tide Wire we are starting a series where each weekday morning we help start your day with a handful of news and notes surrounding the Alabama Crimson Tide and the rest of the SEC. Some of the top stories today include the reports that Nick Saban is hiring a former coach at a rival school and former Alabama hoops star Herb Jones’ impressive rookie season.

Former Auburn WR coach Cornelius Williams reportedly to join Alabama’s staff

Reports indicate that former Auburn WR coach Cornelius Williams is set to join Nick Saban’s staff in Tuscaloosa as an analyst. Williams served as the Tigers wide receiver coach for a portion of the 2021 season before being let go by Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin after the narrow victory over Georgia State. Football Scoop was the first to report the hiring.

 

Herb Jones, NBA rookie of the year?

Former Alabama basketball standout Herb Jones has made easy work of his transition to the NBA. The Pelicans rookie forward has quickly become one of the league’s best defenders along with being one of the most efficient rookies. Jones is making a strong push for NBA Rookie of the Year.

Alabama baseball drops Tuesday game

After starting the season 5-0, Brad Bohannon and the Alabama baseball team have now lost four straight. After being swept by No. 1 Texas over the weekend, the Tide dropped a gimme game to UT Martin on Tuesday. Alabama will host Troy on Wednesday, March 2 at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Alabama hoops host Texas A&M

Nate Oats and the Alabama basketball team will play its final home game of the season on Wednesday night in a matchup with Texas A&M. Winners of five out of their last six, the Tide hopes to finish the regular season on a strong note and improve its position in the NCAA tournament. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

That is going to wrap up your Alabama Morning Drive for today. You can let us know your thoughts and comments on this story below by signing up!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

 

Twitter reacts as Anthony Edwards snubbed for NBA Rookie of the Year

Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards lost the NBA Rookie of the Year Award to Lamelo Ball.

Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards fell short of winning the 2020-2021 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Charlotte Hornets point guard Lamelo Ball won the award despite missing 21 games due to injury.

Edwards and Ball will forever be linked together as members of the 2020 NBA draft class. Edwards was the No. 1 selection and Ball was the No. 3 pick. Both players had impressive rookie seasons and have NBA All-Star potential.

Anthony Edwards had a better season statistically than Lamelo Ball, but Lamelo Ball’s voters will argue that Ball was more valuable to his team. Ball and the Hornets went 33-39 last season. Charlotte was in position to make the playoffs until the last game of the regular season. The Hornets greatly missed Ball when he missed extended time during the end of the season with a wrist injury.

Meanwhile, the Timberwolves went only 23-49 in another lackluster season for the franchise. Edwards did average 19.3 points per game compared to Lamelo’s 15.7 points per game.

Here is how NBA Twitter reacted to Lamelo Ball winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award at the expense of Anthony Edwards:

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Auburn in the NBA: Reviewing Chuma Okeke’s rookie season

Chuma Okeke’s rookie season with the Orlando Magic was full of highlights and great games from the former Auburn star.

Chuma Okeke’s official rookie season came to an end in the Orlando Magic’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 28th. Okeke did not return to the court after a sprained ankle sent him to the locker room with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks for the night.

The former 16th overall draft pick spent his inaugural rookie season rehabbing with the Magic’s G-League team in Lakeland before returning to Orlando in December for NBA preseason action. Okeke scored nine points and recorded three rebounds in the Magic’s preseason debut against the Atlanta Hawks. He logged minutes in five of the Magic’s December contests before a bone bruise forced him to miss the entire month of January.

Upon his return to the court in February, Magic head coach Steve Clifford had nothing but high praise for his young forward.

“I think on both ends, obviously, he was terrific for a guy that hasn’t played for a while. He had a great first half. He also does a lot of the little things. He is very smart, high IQ, and not having him has been a hit for our team. It’s good to get him back.”

Clifford and the Magic coaching staff have been very careful in timing Okeke’s return from the torn ACL he sustained during Auburn’s Final Four run. Finally on March 12th Okeke was given his first career start against the San Antonio Spurs and oh yes, he made headlines. The Magic were down 53-41 in the third quarter against the Spurs when Keldon Johnson was called for an aggressive foul against Okeke. The call sent the former Auburn star to the line where he made all three free throws. The Magic then retained possession of the ball giving Okeke the green light to sink an open three.

The Big Chum we all remember was BACK and the Magic soon made it clear that they were all in on Okeke.

At the trade deadline the Magic sent center Nikola Vucevic to the Bulls, forward Aaron Gordon to the Nuggets, and wing Evan Fournier to the Celtics to make way for Okeke. Four days later Okeke scored a career high 22 points against Portland. Late March 2021 Okeke looked very reminiscent of March 2019 Okeke. In the Magic’s last four games for the month of March Okeke totaled 71 points, 5 steals, 9 assists, and 19 rebounds. His impact helped the Magic finish 2-2 through that four game slate after they’d began the month on a 9-game losing streak.

Okeke’s performance at the end of March catapulted him all the way to No. 2 in CBS Sports’ NBA Rookie Power Ranking.

Okeke’s rookie season may be over, but his career is just getting started. If he can manage to stay healthy through next season he will go on an absolute tear.