2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year odds: Zach Edey favored; Reed Sheppard rising

National Basketball Association

Updated Jul. 23, 2024 10:41 a.m. ET

With the NBA Summer League in our rearview mirror, bettors are looking ahead to which player will win the Rookie of the Year award.

During Summer League, fans got a glimpse at some of the newly-drafted players who were selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, like Zaccharie Risacher (No. 1 overall to the Hawks ), Alexandre Sarr (No. 2 to the Wizards ) and Reed Sheppard (No. 3 to the Rockets ).

One big draft day surprise was two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey, who sneaked into the top 10 and went ninth to the Memphis Grizzlies. Prior to the draft, Edey was +2000 to be the No. 9 pick.

But now Edey has made some noise in the NBA Summer League and that helped boost his Rookie of the Year odds.

He is now the new favorite to win the award, at +600. Edey moved ahead of Sarr, who now sits at +850 after being +650 at the end of June.

The 7-foot-4 center out of Purdue was effective in his first summer contest against the Jazz, scoring 14 points, with 15 rebounds and four blocks. In his second game, he had six points, three rebounds and a block before heading to the locker room with a reported ankle injury.

Is Bronny James gaining confidence for the Lakers?

Sarr, on the other hand, struggled in his Summer League campaign, averaging only 5.5 points per game.

Let’s check out the Rookie of the Year odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of July 23.

Zach Edey, Grizzlies: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)

Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)

Reed Sheppard, Rockets: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)

Alexandre Sarr, Wizards: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)

Stephon Castle, Spurs: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)

Dalton Knecht, Lakers: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)

Reed Sheppard has also been surging up the oddsboard due to his stellar play in Summer League. His rookie of the Year odds are +800 after sitting at +1100 one month ago.

He averaged 20 points, 5.3 assists and 4.8 boards during the summer season.

And of course, we can’t have a conversation about rookies without discussing Bronny James.

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So where does he fall on the betting board?

As of July 23, he’s way down the list at +25000. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft.

Recently, on “Undisputed,”Skip Bayless discussed James’ Summer League debut, focusing more on the attention he was bound to get at Summer League as opposed to his actual play.

“I’m watching the internet, and he’s getting ridiculed for getting his ankles broken on a play. … I hear what you say about the Summer League doesn’t matter, but this is the son of LeBron James. So it’s going to, unfortunately, matter way too much, because we haven’t seen much of him.

“So last year, I write completely off. This is where it kinda starts.”

According to BetMGM, Bronny James has the highest handle of all ROY wagers at 23.8%. He is the biggest liability for the sportsbook within the ROY betting market.

One bettor at BetMGM wagered $1,000 on Bronny James +25000 to win NBA Rookie of the Year.

The bet would win $250,000.

Is it worth taking a flyer on Bronny to win ROY?

Colin Cowherd does not seem to think so.

When talking about the volume of wagers on Bronny to win ROY, Cowherd said, “Don’t tell me the economy is bad. Clearly, there’s a lot of money to burn in America.”

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