Former Duke Basketball star Cameron Boozer is the early favorite to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year award.
The 2026 NBA Draft is just under a week old as the league turns the page in the offseason to the next phase. As teams look to improve in the free agency period, the hype around this rookie class is still high.
This was considered a very strong rookie class, led by the top four selections of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson.
The four will always be connected because of this draft and we can expect a lot of competition when they meet. But we can also expect it throughout the entire season as they battle to be the top rookie.
While it's still very early and Summer League hasn't even started yet, the odds for the Rookie of the Year award are out. And it's not really a surprise that Boozer actually leads the way early on.
Here is what Covers said about Boozer's odds as they stand now:
The son of 13-year NBA veteran Carlos Boozer leads FanDuel’s odds board at +240. Just behind him are the top two picks in the draft, Washington Wizards guard AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Utah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (Kansas), both at +400.
Boozer is ahead of Dybantsa, who is second, and Peterson, who is third. College rival Caleb Wilson is fourth in the odds.
For Boozer, he's looking to replicate what former Duke players Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks) and Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets) did last season. After both spent one year at Duke, they were 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting, with Flagg beating out his former teammate.
Going into the predraft process, Boozer wasn't really ever considered in terms of the No. 1 pick conversation. Instead, it was Dybantsa and Peterson who were the topic of those discussions.
Boozer expressed his disappointment with that right before the draft, but he can now use that as motivation as his season begins. Coming off a national player of the year award, Boozer has shown he can play at a high level, and the hope is that it translates over to the NBA.
He's also looking to become the first No. 3 overall pick since LaMelo Ball to win the Rookie of the Year award.
