Top Five Rookies to Watch in the 2025-26 NBA Season
If Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg does not win this season’s Rookie of the Year award, then any number of fans, bettors, and observers are going to do a double-take.
Top Rookie Talent
It’s not surprising the National Basketball Association named its Rookie of the Year Award in honor of Wilt Chamberlain, in the Greatest of the All Time orbit, and one of two freshmen (along with Wes Unseld) to win both NBA Rookie of the Year and league MVP in the same season.
Rookie of the Year is a unique accolade in itself, since a player only has one shot to take home the hardware. It’s sort of akin to the Kentucky Derby in that regard; there’s only a single chance to prove yourself better than the competition in a particular season.
There’s a ‘Who’s Who?’ list of standout players who’ve won the NBA’s version of top freshman over the decades. Regarding last season, it was point guard Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs earning the honor.
Castle was the second consecutive Spur (Victor Wenbanyama) to earn the award as San Antonio improved by a dozen victories over each of the previous two seasons.
With the 2025-26 regular season NBA schedule set to begin in a couple of weeks (as of this writing), it’s the eyes of both Texas and the rest of the league are focused squarely on Dallas.
It’s been that way ever since the Mavericks beat the odds to win the last lottery, stunning no one by selecting Duke’s 6-foot-9 all-over-the-floor standout and consensus College Player of the Year Cooper Flagg. Flagg won’t turn 19 years of age until December, but nonetheless is being counted as a cornerstone of the team.
Flagg was such low-hanging fruit as a first overall selection that he’s a current 1-2 (-200) favorite to win this season’s Rookie of the Year award. The only other player under double figures on the board right now in NBA news is Tre Johnson of the Washington Wizards at 9-1 (+900).
Next are (alphabetically) Ace Bailey (Utah Jazz), VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers) and Dylan Harper, all as 10-1 (+1000) propositions.
Those are the top five as far as the NBA ROY odds are concerned, but not the only contenders. If there is a dark horse out there, it’s the job of the shrewd bettor to find him and make a score.
Here’s a bit of a primer on those favored to win Wilt the Stilt’s Rookie of the Year award…
Who Will Be the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2025-26?
It’s not a given that he helps lead the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals this season, but no one is getting nearly the Rookie of the Year respect as former Duke Blue Devil, Cooper Flagg. Listed at 6-foot-9 while making his presence felt on both ends of the court, Flagg is a minus-money (1-2, [-200]) favorite to earn the award at the outset of the season.
What Was the NBA Rookie of the Year Last Season?
It was former Connecticut Huskie Stephon Castle earning Rookie of the Year honors last season, the second San Antonio Spur in succession (that after some guy named Victor Wenbanyama) to take home the NBA ROTY hardware.
Who is Favored to Win NBA ROTY?
As was mentioned, the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year has a prohibitive favorite in the Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg. Dallas confounded the ping-pong balls at the last lottery to snare the first overall selection in the draft. One of the storylines of the season is if (and by how many) NBA games the Mavs improve in the standings.
Any Final Thoughts?
According to NBA lines, Rookie of the Year is Cooper Flagg’s to lose this season. Whether that turns out to be true or he doesn’t meet the expectations of a first overall selection remains to be seen as the 2025-26 season begins in a few weeks.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
