De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish open with top-8 odds to win 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year award

The Atlanta Hawks put together a memorable haul in the 2019 NBA Draft, adding De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bruno Fernando to the mix. While Hunter and Fernando are not “officially” on the roster until July, the league continues to operate as if they are on board in Atlanta and, to that end, so do the good folks in the sports handicapping industry.

On Friday, BetOnline.ag released its opening odds for 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year and all three of Atlanta’s draftees made the cut. Hunter sits with the No. 5 odds to take home the trophy at 14-to-1, with Reddish at 28-to-1 and Fernando coming in at 50-to-1.

It would be stunning if Fernando, as the No. 34 pick, made a real run at Rookie of the Year consideration, but both Hunter and Reddish land in the top eight among those first-year players listed. Naturally, the overwhelming favorite is Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1-to-2 odds), with Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (4-to-1) and Knicks wing R.J. Barrett (6-to-1) at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Hunter doesn’t fit the traditional profile of a ROY front-runner, simply because he won’t be called on to act as a primary creator and scorer in his first NBA season, but he does have a path to contention as an efficient, two-way role player, particularly if the top contenders struggle out of the gate. As for Reddish, there is potentially more offensive upside but, from a playing time standpoint, Hunter would appear to be the front-runner at the small forward position (at least for now) and that could limit his consideration for league-wide hardware.

Obviously, this isn’t a terribly serious thing to worry about on June 21 but, for entertainment purposes, it is always fun to monitor this kind of thing.

Here is the full list of odds, courtesy of BetOnline.ag:

Zion Williamson 1/2

Ja Morant 4/1

RJ Barrett 6/1

Darius Garland 10/1

De’Andre Hunter 14/1

Jarrett Culver 16/1

Coby White 20/1

Cam Reddish 28/1

Jaxson Hayes 28/1

Cam Johnson 30/1

Nassir Little 33/1

PJ Washington 33/1

Rui Hachimura 33/1

Sekou Doumbouya 33/1

Ty Jerome 40/1

Brandon Clarke 50/1

Bruno Fernando 50/1

Keldon Johnson 50/1

Mfiondu Kabengele 50/1

Romeo Langford 50/1

Tyler Herro 50/1

Bol Bol 80/1

Nickeil Alexander-Walker 80/1

Goga Bitadze 100/1

Kevin Porter Jr. 100/1

KZ Okpala 100/1