The Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery with only a 1.8% chance of doing so, and their prize was the right to draft Duke star Cooper Flagg No. 1 overall. Unlike most teams drafting No. 1, expectations are high for the Mavericks this season (over/under of 41.5), especially if — or when — Kyrie Irving is able to return to health later in the season.
Oddsmakers have very high expectations for Flagg as well.
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Dallas’ rookie forward is the -225 favorite to win the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year at BetMGM, the best preseason odds for any player to win the award since at least 2006, per Sports Odds History. Kevin Durant was a -200 preseason favorite in 2007 and Victor Wembanyama was -145 in 2023.
Utah Jazz rookie and No. 5 overall pick Ace Bailey has the next-best odds at +900, followed by the Philadelphia 76ers’ V.J. Edgecombe (10-1), the Washington Wizards’ Tre Johnson (11-1) and the San Antonio Spurs’ Dylan Harper (13-1).
Bailey has the most wagers (18.8%) and total dollars wagered (28.2%) at BetMGM sportsbooks to win the award, but the biggest liability at the sportsbook is Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Hansen Yang, who opened with 300-1 odds and is down to 50-1. Yang was widely expected to be a second-round pick, but Portland traded up to No. 16 to take him.
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“We’re not taking a ton of action on the market,” Halvor Egeland, BetMGM trading strategy manager, told Yahoo Sports. “Ace Bailey has the most money and bets. I don’t think people want to bet on Flagg at that price. Edgecombe has had a decent amount of money bet into him. Yang has a few bets on him, down to 50-1. As of now, Flagg would actually be a good result for us.”
The Spurs — with Wembanyama and the No. 2 pick Harper — take on the Mavericks on Wednesday night in their opener. Dallas is a 2.5-point favorite with a total of 224.5.
This news was originally published on this post .
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