NBA NEWS

Zion cutting into Morant’s ROY odds

Field Level Media

February 24, 2020 at 9:49 pm.

Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant is still a commanding favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors, but there’s a rapidly approaching threat to what was once a foregone conclusion.

Through his first 12 regular-season NBA games with the New Orleans Pelicans, No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson has seen his ROY odds tumble from +1600 to +400 at BetAmerica. He is now second only to Morant.

Williamson is also the second favorite at DraftKings, which is offering him at +450 compared to Morant at -560.

While Williamson remains highly unlikely to catch Morant for ROY, it certainly appears to be a two-player race.

ROY Odds (BetAmerica.com)
Ja Morant -700
Zion Williamson +400
Kendrick Nunn +3000
Rui Hachimura +4000
Brandon Clarke +5000
Tyler Herro +5000
Michael Porter Jr. +5000

“We had a number of optimistic bettors take the top odds about Zion prior to his debut and with each of his impressive performances since, more and more have jumped on,” said BetAmerica’s Andrew Brown.

Williamson was a short-priced -400 favorite at BetAmerica before suffering a knee injury during the preseason that required surgery.

Since making his regular-season debut on Jan. 22, Williamson is averaging 22.8 points and 7.2 rebounds on 58.6 percent shooting in 12 games.

Morant is averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 49.2 percent in 50 games.