2025-26 NBA Rookie Discussion Thread

[bisme37]

Oh hey good pals. This is a place to talk about rookies. Go rookies yay!

(Note: the poll is set up so you can change your votes as often as you'd like)



Second Round
31. Rasheer Fleming (St. Joseph’s) – Suns
32. Noah Penda (Le Mans Sarthe Basket) – Magic
33. Sion James (Duke) - Hornets
34. Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) - Hornets
35. Johni Broome (Auburn) - 76ers
36. Adou Thiero (Arkansas) – Lakers
37. Chaz Lanier (Tennessee) - Pistons
38. Kam Jones (Marquette) – Pacers
39. Alijah Martin (Florida) - Raptors
40. Micah Peavy (Georgetown) – Pelicans
41. Koby Brea (Kentucky) – Suns
42. Maxime Raynaud (Stanford) - Kings
43. Jamir Watkins (Florida State) - Wizards
44. Brooks Barnhizer (Northwestern) - Thunder
45. Rocco Zikarsky (Brisbane) – Wolves
46. Amari Williams (Kentucky) – Celtics
47. Bogoljub Marković (Mega Basket) - Bucks
48. Javon Small (West Virginia) - Grizzlies
49. Tyrese Proctor (Duke) - Cavaliers
50. Kobe Sanders (Nevada) – Clippers
51. Mohamed Diawara (Cholet Basket) – Knicks
52. Alex Toohey (Sydney Kings) – Warriors
53. John Tonje (Wisconsin) - Jazz
54. Taelon Peter (Liberty) - Pacers
55. Lachlan Olbrich (Illawarra Hawks) – Bulls
56. Will Richard (Florida) – Warriors
57. Max Shulga (VCU) – Celtics
58. Saliou Niang (Trento) - Cavaliers
59. Jahmai Mashack (Tennessee) – Grizzlies

ROY odds 1 day after the draft:
PLAYER TEAM ODDS
Cooper Flagg Mavericks -225
Tre Johnson Wizards +700
Ace Bailey Jazz +800
Dylan Harper Spurs +1100
V.J. Edgecombe 76ers +2500
Kon Knueppel Hornets +2500
Derik Queen Pelicans +3000
Jeremiah Fears Pelicans +3500
Cedric Coward Grizzlies +3500
Nique Clifford Kings +3500
Egor Demin Nets +4000
Carter Bryant Spurs +6600
Jase Richardson Magic +8000
Asa Newell Hawks +8000
Walter Clayton Jr. Jazz +6600
Collin Murray-Boyles Raptors +10000
Khaman Maluach Suns +10000
Noa Essengue Bulls +10000
Nikola Topic Thunder +10000
Nolan Traoré Nets +10000
https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/nba/nba-rookie-of-the-year-odds-bm23/

2025 NBA SUMMER LEAGUE DATES:
California Classic: July 5, 6 & 8
Salt Lake City Summer League: July 5, 7 & 8
NBA 2K26 Summer League (Las Vegas): July 10-20
https://www.nba.com/summer-league/2025
(We'll have a separate thread for Summer League once there are more details.)

Please have a nice day.

[Castle Black]

Flagg is the heavy betting favorite to win ROY, as he should be. Not only is he the best player in this draft, he also went to a team that is already in Playoff contention, so he'll be able to contribute to winning right away. And with Kyrie out til at least January, the Mavs have made it clear they're going to let Flagg run a lot of PG this season so he'll have the ball in his hands quite a bit. They also already have an All-NBA caliber player in AD and plenty of floor-spacing shooters, so he won't be the main focus of opposing team's defense every night.

Really good situation for him. I'd be shocked if he doesn't win it.

Read on Twitter

[benson13]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45598056/cooper-flagg-blessing-not-having-mavericks-centerpiece

Cooper Flagg calls not being the centerpiece an option. I understand this. If Kyrie and AD are on the floor, he'll have an easier time. That said, some coaches might want their number one pick to want to be the top guy. More importantly, it's good for the development of players. When guys like LeBron James and Kevin Durant were rookies, they were given the ball and a green light to basically do whatever they wanted, and I think that was great for their development.

[Bornstellar]

I'm going to go with someone on a team without all-star vets that will be forced into a more prominent role immediately: Tre Johnson. Flagg is obviously the favorite and will probably win it, but generally speaking the ROY award basically goes to whatever rookie scores the most and I think in WAS he will get a bigger role on offense than Flagg playing next to AD (and Kyrie whenever he returns) or Harper playing next to Fox/Wemby

[Chuck Everett]

I'm going to go with someone on a team without all-star vets that will be forced into a more prominent role immediately: Tre Johnson. Flagg is obviously the favorite and will probably win it, but generally speaking the ROY award basically goes to whatever rookie scores the most and I think in WAS he will get a bigger role on offense than Flagg playing next to AD (and Kyrie whenever he returns) or Harper playing next to Fox/Wemby

Tre is a good choice, but he does have some positional impediments in Coulibaly, George and CJ McCollum, Marcus Smart and Kris Middleton. All those guys are playing either the 2/3, if they're on the roster. He's going to have to bring his hard hat to earn playing time as a rookie.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Flagg->Traore->Edgecomb leading vote getters.

[EmpireFalls]

Flagg should obviously win it barring injury.

The more intriguing discussion is all-rookie.

I think Harper will find his way on there off pure talent but I’m skeptical about his fit with Fox and Castle. They all do basically the exact same thing on offense. Would not be surprised if his stats are lackluster at first.

All-Rookie has historically been based on counting stats more than anything else; so blending role, talent, opportunity, I have the following.

Flagg
Harper
Tre Johnson - Washington needs an alpha scorer and there’s plenty of shot opportunities to go around. He may not play that much on ball as they have CJ, Middleton, Smart, but those guys will eventually get shut down and he’ll have his 30 point games.
Knueppel - will have a rough adjustment period as he did in college but by January should be good again and will have the usage to make it. I’m low on his overall impact as I think he’ll be a poor defender, but he’ll be very efficient and score at a high rate from 3. Additionally, LaMelo will invariably go down at one point and the Hornets will be tanking, and they’ll look to feed Kon as much usage as they can during those days. Comfortable with this bet.
Nolan Traore - yes, him. Brooklyn has no one who can get downhill, they were playing Killian Hayes out of desperation last year. He can play and play well immediately.

Ace I think won’t play as much as we initially think and it sucks that his best spots are the exact spots Markkanen, Sensabaugh, and Cody Williams prefer on the court. I think he’ll have some good games but I wish he’d have gone to a team with a real PG to set him up. Jazz are just going to be a chuckfest and the rook doesn’t always eat in those scenarios.

VJ by impact will be good but I’m not sure on his minutes load. McCain Maxey and Grimes are all clearly better offensively and I think he’ll be doing a lot of role player stuff. The on-ball development is more of a 3-4 year plan for him imo.

Queen and Fears I considered, as both have real on ball skill that can eat up usage, but then I realized Jordan Poole was on the team, and quickly re-considered.

Dark horses: Jakucionis and Jase Richardson, and possibly Ryan Kalkbrenner because the Hornets have no one to play center. Maluach could also make it but the Mark Williams trade will severely cut his minutes and he’s very raw.

[Little Lupe]

Obviously it is Taelin Peter for the pacers

[Saints14]

I don’t understand Harper being below Bailey and Johnson. He’s the better player of the 3, will be on a better team and should get plenty of minutes even with sharing the backcourt? I would be shocked if Johnson or Bailey were positive NBA players next year. I’d have Knueppel ahead of them too honestly

[Tnasty4l]

Kam Jones sleeper ROY candidate.

[penggemar]

Traore will win the Nets PG position race (vs Demin, Saraf)

[Jailblazers7]

Kon at +2500 is something I might throw some money at. He’ll be able to play off the attention Lamelo & Miller get to put up some efficient offensive stats and Charlotte will be in a lot of shoot outs. I think his scoring and assist numbers will put him in the convo, especially if Cooper has lower box score totals playing next to a lot of vet talent.

[UcanUwill]

Traore will win the Nets PG position race (vs Demin, Saraf)

Is Saraf coming? I thought he will be draft and stash. Yeah, I expect Traore to be their starting PG.

[BAMAFREAK]

If anymore Grizzlies get hurt I may have to take Cedric Coward. I’m really not even sure what to expect but I think the FO is gonna let him spread his wings

[dolphinatik]

WCJ is in an ideal situation to have a good first year. Hugo Gonzales should also get plenty of burn with Boston tanking, I am also excited to see Drake Powell in Brooklyn as they go tank again.

[bucknut]

Fears and clayton have the least guys ahead of them and the skills. I've got them number 2 and 3 overall in the class and demontay Murray injured till January. I would think him and clayton start

[SwingOnThis]

ROY odds 1 day after the draft:
PLAYER TEAM ODDS
Cooper Flagg Mavericks -225
Tre Johnson Wizards +700
Ace Bailey Jazz +800
Dylan Harper Spurs +1100
V.J. Edgecombe 76ers +2500
Kon Knueppel Hornets +2500
Derik Queen Pelicans +3000
Jeremiah Fears Pelicans +3500
Cedric Coward Grizzlies +3500
Nique Clifford Kings +3500
Egor Demin Nets +4000
Carter Bryant Spurs +6600
Jase Richardson Magic +8000
Asa Newell Hawks +8000
Walter Clayton Jr. Jazz +6600
Collin Murray-Boyles Raptors +10000
Khaman Maluach Suns +10000
Noa Essengue Bulls +10000
Nikola Topic Thunder +10000
Nolan Traoré Nets +10000


Please have a nice day.

[Black Jack]

Topic Thunder can be an atg nickname if he pans out

[doogie_hauser]

VJ Edgecombe sure looks slick in his first pro hit out for The Sixers. Morey sure nailed that pick. Might be worth a bet for ROTY, especially at his current odds.

[Patsfan1081]

Hot take. This will be a very underperforming rookie class with the one highlight being the Yang man.