The obvious candidates to win the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year award do not interest us. We could write a million words about Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, and Ben Simmons (remember him?) and how they're the obvious picks to lock down the honor of being the best first-year player in the league this upcoming season. NBA GMs, for their money, think it's Lonzo's to lose. Dennis Smith Jr. is another logical choice, but his odds are 4.5-1.
We like to dig a little deeper and give some shine to guys who just might surprise us all (kind of like Malcolm Brogdon last year). So just like we did with our dark horse NBA MVP candidates, we surveyed the Vegas odds for the ROY and chose a bunch of stars with odds of 8-1 or greater who might have a legit shot at snatching it away from the frontrunners.
And just like we urged you last week, peruse our list of dark horse NBA Rookie of the Year candidates and place your wagers accordingly because the season starts in less than two weeks.
De'Aaron Fox: 8-1
Jayson Tatum: 8-1
Josh Jackson: 8-1
Malik Monk: 15-1
Harry Giles: 25-1
Harry Giles' high school career was book-ended by ACL tears, but his mettle was already proven, to the point where he was still the No. 1 overall consensus recruit. Shoot, he already has three gold FIBA medals playing for Team USA. Despite the 6'11" center averaging only 4 points and 4 rebounds in 11 minutes a game during his lone season at Duke, he declared for the draft and was taken in the first round, 20th overall. Let his self-confidence—and Peja Stojakovic's comparison of Giles to Chris Webber—be a sign that this longshot could be the one to bet on. — D.R.