ROTY Gambling Picks — NBA Odds
With the 2015 NBA Draft behind us, there’s no more wondering where Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D’Angelo Russell will land. Barring an offseason trade, each rookie drafted knows his home, but what we don’t know is who will take away the hardware for 2015-16’s Rookie of the Year.
Here’s a look at the favorites to win the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year.
NBA Handicapping
All odds courtesy of Bovada
Jahlil Okafor (15/4)
It’s not often that you can say someone was a complete steal as a third-overall pick, but that’s exactly what Jahlil Okafor was during this draft. He could have gone No. 1 and very few people would have questioned it, but instead, he slipped to No. 3, and is a member of the rebuilding Philadelphia 76ers.
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The one and only thing that will make a ROY campaign difficult for Okafor is the Sixers themselves. They aren’t exactly known as a group that’s trying to win, meaning his individual stats will need to be among the best — something that wouldn’t be too unreasonable, except for the fact that Philly has two other young centers competing for time (assuming Joel Embiid is healthy enough to compete).
D’Angelo Russell (4/1)
The Los Angeles Lakers could have played it safe and gone with Okafor at No. 2. Instead, they made the selection with long-term success in mind — including life after Kobe Bryant.
D’Angelo Russell is the point guard of the future in L.A., but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to compete right away. The only catch here is that the selection of a guard likely means this franchise will target a superstar big in free agency.
If the Lakers are able to bring in a star, that will take away from Russell’s immediate statistical impact. Regardless, the youngster from Ohio State will get a ton of valuable experience in his first year in Tinsletown.
Karl-Anthony Towns (11/2)
There wasn’t a single prospect in this draft more NBA ready than Karl-Anthony Towns. His versatile offensive game and two-way prowess makes it not too unrealistic to say that he has no one major weakness entering the pros.
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Of course, KAT will have to adjust to banging with the bigs down low, as all young prospects do. But This guy should be a monster on the glass, and his offensive numbers won’t look too shabby either if his range is as polished as it looked in a few pre-draft workouts.
Emmanuel Mudiay (7/1)
Emmanuel Midiay has a chance to blow everyone away in his rookie season, and that has everything to do with the fact that Ty Lawson (and possibly Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari and others) could be departing the Mile High City this summer.
Don’t get me wrong; Mudiay is a talented point guard who can create with his athleticism and put the ball in the bucket. But the point here is that the Denver Nuggets are looking to start fresh in search of a true superstar.
That’s something this franchise has lacked since Carmelo Anthony, and the team is willing to put its eggs into the basket of a young stud — especially after winning just 30 games this past season.
Justise Winslow (9/1)
Justise Winslow was an absolute steal to the Miami Heat. He wasn’t the first small forward taken off the board, but there’s a good chance he’ll be the know as the best at his position from this class.
Playing behind Luol Deng will lower his impact as a rookie, but he’s seemingly the answer for this team when it comes to long-term success at the 3. His intangibles will earn him some votes, but his role off the pine will keep him from taking home the hardware.
Prediction
There isn’t an easy pick out of this class, but there’s a reason Okafor is the betting favorite. His low-post game was made for the NBA, and he’s going to prove that right out of the gate.
Defensively, there’s a lot to work on, but he admitted recently that his coaches at Duke asked him to save his energy on that end of the floor at the collegiate level.
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If he can put up solid offensive numbers and show critics that he’s not as slow on defense as they think he is, he’ll be the standout star of the Sixers, and 2016’s Rookie of the Year.
Full Odds
Jahlil Okafor, 15/4
D’Angelo Russell, 4/1
Karl-Anthony Towns, 11/2
Emmanuel Mudiay, 7/1
Justise Winslow, 9/1
Joel Embiid, 10/1
Mario Hezonja, 16/1
Jerian Grant, 22/1
Willie Cauley-Stein, 22/1
Frank Kaminsky, 25/1
Kristaps Porzingis, 25/1
Myles Turner, 25/1
Sam Dekker, 25/1
Bobby Portis, 33/1
Cameron Payne, 33/1
Devin Booker, 33/1
Stanley Johnson, 33/1
Trey Lyles, 33/1
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