Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
NBA

2025 NBA Rookie Of The Year Betting Odds: Castle On The Verge Of Capturing Hardware

It looks as though it's going to take a herculean effort to close out the season in order to prevent NBA Rookie of the Year honors, as the 20-year-old UConn alumnus possesses -750 betting odds as of March 25 with no other player currently having better than a 10-to-1 chance. 

Here's a look at where all Castle and all other contenders currently sit in the race for the Wilt Chamberlain trophy. 

2025 NBA Rookie Of The Year Odds

Player Team Odds
Stephon Castle San Antonio Spurs -750
Alexandre Sarr Washington Wizards +1000
Zaccharie Risacher Atlanta Hawks +1600
Jaylen Wells Memphis Grizzlies +2000
Zach Edey Memphis Grizzlies +4000
Kel'el Ware Miami Heat +8000
Isaiah Collier Utah Jazz +8000
Matas Buzelis Chicago Bulls +15000
Donovan Clingan Portland Trail Blazers +15000
Kyle Filipowski Utah Jazz +15000

Odds as of March 25, 2025 at BetMGM

NBA Rookie of the Year Betting Favorite: Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs (-750)

Injuries can never be ed for, and surely the Spurs never envisioned a scenario in which both Victor Wembanyama and the newly-acquired De'Aaron Fox would be sidelined for the final months of the 2024-25 campaign. Nonetheless, that's the fate that befell them, but it's those unfortunate circumstances which ultimately propelled Castle to being a heavy favorite for a Rookie of the Year award that's been fairly open most of the season.

In his last 14 games alone from Feb. 26 through March 23, Castle has averaged 20.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while shooting over 47 percent from the field. He leads all first-year players in scoring at 14 points per game, which would be the ninth-fewest by a ROTY winner in league history, but still well ahead of Malcolm Brogdon's 10.2 points in 2017.

NBA Rookie of the Year Darkhorse: Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks (+1600)

It's been quite some time since we've had a No. 1 overall pick receive as little attention or fanfare as Zaccharie Risacher, but that was to be expected for the 19-year-old French prospect as he was projected to have a high ceiling but with limited returns coming out of the gate. As we've seen from this class overall, the Atlanta Hawks were able to take that risk because there wasn't a surefire no-brainer pick to be made. 

Since the All-Star break, Risacher ranks fourth amongst rookies in scoring (14 points), second in 3-pointers made per game (2.4), and 12th in rebounding (4.8). Those aren't flashy numbers by any stretch, but the fact that he's making subtle improvements to his game and efficiencies while playing a larger role for the Hawks are strong signs that the franchise ultimately won't be let down after rolling the dice with him. 

Past 10 NBA Rookie Of The Year Winners

Year Player Team Draft Pick Opening Odds
2024 Victor Wembanyama San Antonio Spurs No. 1 -145
2023 Paolo Banchero Orlando Magic No. 1 +200
2022 Scottie Barnes Toronto Raptors  No. 4 +1100
2021 LaMelo Ball Charlotte Hornets No. 3 +400
2020 Ja Morant Memphis Grizzlies No. 2 +250
2019 Luka Doncic Dallas Mavericks No. 3 +250
2018 Ben Simmons Philadelphia 76ers No. 1 +225
2017 Malcolm Brogdon Milwaukee Bucks No. 36 N/A
2016 Karl-Anthony Towns Minnesota Timberwolves No. 1 +450
2015 Andrew Wiggins Minnesota Timberwolves No. 1 +400

Victor Wembanyama was hyped as a once-in-a-lifetime talent who could single-handedly lift a franchise out of obscurity. He's the only player in the last ten years to open at minus money and go on to win Rookie of the Year. The Frenchman was also the first center since Karl-Anthony Towns in 2016 to win, as well. 

NBA Teams With the Most Rookie Of The Year Winners

Team Rookie of the Year Wins Most Recent
Golden State Warriors 6 Chris Webber, 1994
Los Angeles Clippers 5 Blake Griffin, 2011
Sacramento Kings 5 Tyreke Evans, 2010
Portland Trail Blazers 4 Damian Lillard, 2013
Washington Wizards 4 Wes Unseld, 1969

The five teams with the most Rookie of the Years haven't actually had a player capture the hardware in the last decade. In the case of the Golden State Warriors, a majority of their wins came when the franchise was located in both Philadelphia and San Francisco. The same applies to the Los Angeles Clippers, who had three players win when the team was the Buffalo Braves.

NBA Teams With Zero Rookie Of The Year Winners

The Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat are the only two organizations in league history to have never had a Rookie of the Year. 

How To Read NBA Rookie Of The Year Odds

When you visit your NBA betting site of choice, you’ll notice 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year odds laid out like this:

  • Alexandre Sarr, +600
  • Zach Edey, +650
  • Zaccharie Risacher, +750
  • Dalton Knecht, +850

Unlike a moneyline bet where favorites are shown by the minus sign (-) and underdogs have a plus sign (+), the player with the lowest odds with the plus sign (+) is the fave. In this scenario, Alexandre Sarr is favored. If you were to bet $100 on Sarr in the NBA Rookie of the Year betting odds and it hits, you would win $700 – your $100 is returned and you would get $600 in profit.

If you were to bet on which player will be named Rookie of the Year, you would make a futures bet.

What Is A Futures Bet?

This is a bet made on events that will happen in time. In this case, it’s Rookie of the Year. To make a Odds Calculator can give you an idea of how much you’d win based on the Rookie of the Year odds and the amount of money you bet.

2025 NBA Awards Betting Odds

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