Scottie Barnes Takes Pole Position in Rookie of the Year Odds

Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes is now the favorite to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year honors, jumping Cleveland Cavaliers star Evan Mobley

Aaron Rose | Nov 17, 2021

It took Scottie Barnes less than a month to go from a dark horse Rookie of the Year candidate to the frontrunner for one of the league's highest honors. He's jumped from +1400 odds when the season started, the fifth-highest odds, to pole position at +250 on FanDuel.

It's been an incredible start to the season for the Toronto Raptors rookie who has defied all his offensive expectations for this year. He's leading all rookies in scoring and rebounds, averaging 16.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He's also averaging 2.8 assists, the fifth-most of any rookie, and shooting 51.2% from the floor, the highest of any rookie averaging at least five shot attempts per game.

Evan Mobley, the man picked one spot ahead of Barnes by the Cleveland Cavaliers, had been the favorite for the award, but an elbow injury that'll keep him sidelined for the next two to four weeks has dropped him to second place, at +310 for the Rookie of the Year award.

After Mobley, Detroit's Cade Cunningham sits at +380 while Houston's Jalen Green sits at +430. Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs, the man chosen one pick after Barnes, sits at +3400, the eighth-best odds for the award.

Fellow Raptors rookie Dalano Banton is not listed.

Toronto has previously had two Rookie of the Year recipients, in 1996 when Damon Stoudamire won the award, and again in 1999 when Vince Carter took home the hardware.

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