Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic remains the favorite to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. In fact, heading into the All-Star break there really isn't even a contest going if you go by the betting odds. Not only is Banchero the favorite to win the award but he is a crushing favorite, priced at -1000 (1/10) in bet365's antepost for this market. Banchero will be active in the Skills Challenge at the upcoming NBA All-Star break.
Banchero's history in the Rookie of the Year market
This was a market that we kept an eye on early in the season. At around the start of the season, Banchero was around 7 to 5 to win the award according to an article we posted back on October 22nd, 2022. He started to shorten immediately after posting really good stats in a starting role with Orlando early in the season.
Banchero had an injury in the early months of the season and that slowed the betting on him. However, he recovered from the injury and has been a huge favorite to win the ROY award for almost the entire season. It seems that the only thing that will really slow him down is if he misses a huge number of the remaining games for some reason.
Rookie of the Year Betting Odds (bet365)
- Paolo Banchero: -1000 (1/10)
- Bennedict Mathurin: +650 (13/2)
- Walker Kessler: +2800 (28/1)
Bennedict Mathurin has been the only real competitor for the Rookie of the Year Award. He was one of the favorites early in the season but has never really shortened much. According to our article from October, Mathurin, who plays for the Indiana Pacers, was 5 to 1. He has largely played as a bench player this season and has shown that he is a capable scorer in that capacity. However, his performance hasn't measured up to Banchero's so far.
Walker Kessler has surprised many this season
Walker Kessler, who plays for Utah, did not really start the season on the radar as a Rookie of the Year candidate. Currently, he is out at 28 to 1 to win the award and you could argue that he still isn't on the radar due to the length of the odds. However, he is the third favorite in a season where he has gone from being a bench player to a starter on a team that still might make the playoffs.
But at this point, all bets are probably off. Reasonable conjecture would conclude that Banchero will win the award. However, his betting odds are so ugly at -1000 (1/10) that not many will bother with taking him. Pounding -1000 for small returns bumps into a problem if Banchero gets injured. Our recommendation in this market is just to take on pass on it at this time.
