The top of the 2026 NBA Draft went pretty much as expected on Tuesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with AJ Dybantsa taken No. 1 by the Washington Wizards, Darryn Peterson selected No. 2 by the Utah Jazz and Duke’s Cameron Boozer going third to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Peterson opened as the favorite at sportsbooks to be selected No. 1 overall, but was surpassed by Dybantsa in March. Dybantsa’s odds kept increasing as the draft approached and he was up to a -2500 favorite at some sportsbooks to go No. 1 overall an hour before Tuesday night’s first round.
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But it’s the third overall pick Boozer who is the favorite to win the 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year at sportsbooks — not Dybantsa or Peterson.
The former Blue Devils player opened as the +250 favorite at BetMGM to win the award, followed by Dybantsa and Peterson at +400.
Arkansas guard Darius Acuff — the No. 7 overall pick to the Sacramento Kings — is slightly behind at +450. No other player had single-digit odds.
North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson — the Chicago Bulls’ pick at No. 4 — has the next-best odds at 10-1, followed by the Brooklyn Nets‘ Mikel Brown Jr. (16-1) and the Golden State Warriors‘ Yaxel Lendeborg (20-1).
