Hield, Dunn favorites to win NBA Rookie of the Year
Ben Simmons' surgery to repair a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot has effectively opened the door for several other first-year players to enter the Rookie of the Year race.
He'll be sidelined for at least three months, with the possibility that he gets held out for the entire 2016-17 campaign. If that's the case, a rookie not selected first overall would take home the award for the third time in the last seven years.
The latest odds over at Bovada sportsbook have scoring guard Buddy Hield of the New Orleans Pelicans and point guard Kris Dunn of the Minnesota Timberwolves as the two favorites to walk away with the hardware. Joel Embiid, Simmons, and Brandon Ingram round out the top five.
| Player | Team | 6/27/16 | 10/18/16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Hield | New Orleans Pelicans | 11/2 | 7/2 |
| Kris Dunn | Minnesota Timberwolves | 15/2 | 4/1 |
| Joel Embiid | Philadelphia 76ers | 14/1 | 5/1 |
| Ben Simmons | Philadelphia 76ers | 13/4 | 5/1 |
| Brandon Ingram | Los Angeles Lakers | 13/2 | 11/2 |
| Dario Saric | Philadelphia 76ers | N/A | 16/1 |
| Thon Maker | Milwaukee Bucks | 16/1 | 20/1 |
| Jamal Murray | Denver Nuggets | 12/1 | 20/1 |
| Denzel Valentine | Chicago Bulls | 12/1 | 20/1 |
| Wade Baldwin | Memphis Grizzlies | 16/1 | 28/1 |
| Marquese Chriss | Phoenix Suns | 16/1 | 28/1 |
| Jaylen Brown | Boston Celtics | 20/1 | 30/1 |
| Dragan Bender | Phoenix Suns | 20/1 | 35/1 |
| Caris LeVert | Brooklyn Nets | 20/1 | 35/1 |
| Domantas Sabonis | Oklahoma City Thunder | 28/1 | 35/1 |
| Jakob Poeltl | Toronto Raptors | 25/1 | 40/1 |
| Taurean Prince | Atlanta Hawks | 16/1 | 40/1 |
| Malachi Richardson | Sacramento Kings | 20/1 | 40/1 |
| Kay Felder | Cleveland Cavaliers | N/A | 50/1 |
| Brice Johnson | Los Angeles Clippers | 20/1 | 50/1 |
(Courtesy: Bovada.lv)
The latest odds nearly fall in line with what the league's general managers recently voted on in NBA.com's 2016-17 GM survey. Dunn was the overwhelming favorite with 46.7 percent of the votes, while Hield and Simmons each had 13.3 percent.