NBA Rookie of the Year odds: Cameron Boozer opens as favorite over A.J. Dybantsa
AnalysisNBA Rookie of the Year odds: Cameron Boozer opens as favorite over A.J. Dybantsa
Will Cameron Boozer be an instant contributor for the Grizzlies? Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images
By Mark SeligJune 25, 2026 Updated 10:24 am EDTCameron Boozer doesn’t understand why he was an afterthought in the discussion of who would be the first pick in the NBA draft. “I think many years down the line, people are going to look back and say I should have been,” Boozer, who went No. 3 to the Memphis Grizzlies, told ESPN on Tuesday night’s telecast.
At least for his debut season, the oddsmakers are on his side.
Most major sportsbooks opened Boozer as the favorite to capture the Rookie of the Year award, which is often where talent meets opportunity.
FanDuel lists him as a +240 favorite, with No. 1 pick A.J. Dybantsa of the Washington Wizards and No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson of the Utah Jazz trailing at +400.
How excited is AJ Dybantsa about being the number 1 pick?Josh Robbins and Jeshua KiddThe Athletic’s draft expert Sam Vecenie listed each of those players — as well as No. 4 pick Caleb Wilson — as “winners” in his annual winners and losers column based on how they fit within their new teams.
For Boozer in particular, he wrote, “It’s hard to find a more Grizzlies player under this Zach Kleiman-led front office. Memphis has been among the best teams at drafting, largely sticking to players who produce at a high level while being elite competitors. … The city and front office will embrace him.”
Boozer had one of the most statistically productive freshman seasons ever, leading Duke with 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. The Grizzlies are in flux, with point guard Ja Morant’s status unclear, but Boozer will instantly start at power forward and should get plenty of chances to make plays for a team that went 25-57 last year and lacks a reliable go-to player.
Dybantsa and Peterson should also fit in as immediate starters, but their respective teams have more talent around them and real desires to reach the playoffs after long droughts.
The Wizards “desperately required [Dybantsa’s] downhill rim pressure,” Vecenie wrote. He said Peterson, “an admitted introvert who just wants to go about his business, play ball and work hard on his game — should fit in well in Utah.”
Team success rarely factors heavily for this award, which is often given to the best statistical producer.
Last year, Cooper Flagg edged Kon Knueppel with a late-season charge that included back-to-back 51- and 45-point outings in the final month of the season. This was despite Flagg playing for a miserable Dallas Mavericks team and Knueppel helping the Charlotte Hornets to their highest win total in a decade.
Flagg (-225) was a comfortable favorite right after his draft, but he had become a +230 underdog to Knueppel just before the Dallas star’s April explosion.
The only time in the past eight seasons that the ROY came from a team that made the playoffs was 2021-22, when the Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes barely beat out the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley.
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Boozer was No. 1 on John Hollinger’s big board and No. 2 (behind Dybantsa) on Vecenie’s. Though Boozer is a few months younger than Dybantsa or Peterson, he is considered by some to be the most NBA-ready because of his size (6-foot-8, 252 pounds), versatility and feel for the game.
“I think he’s pretty close to a can’t-fail offensive prospect,” Vecenie wrote in his draft guide. “ … The only reason I don’t have Boozer at No. 1 is that I think his skills play better as a No. 2 type of star in the NBA as opposed to a No. 1.”
As for wild cards to win rookie of the year, Wilson, drafted No. 4 by the Chicago Bulls, has +950 odds. But that’s behind Darius Acuff, the No. 7 pick with the Sacramento Kings, who ranks fourth at +450.
Acuff was electric for Arkansas, and he puts up the counting numbers (23.5 points, 6.4 assists as a freshman) that make him a serious award candidate.
A reason he fell in the draft is that some feel he’s undersized and a perceived liability defensively. Because he possesses an aesthetically pleasing playstyle, voters might be willing to overlook his flaws in a way some NBA franchises didn’t. He should have plenty of opportunities to make highlights on a Kings team without much of a foundation.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
