Cooper Flagg was touted as such a generational talent that his winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award was considered nothing more than a formality. With less than a week to go in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, though, Flagg is being legitimately challenged for the award by his former Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel. Flagg remains the favorite to win, owning -200 odds at Fanatics Sportsbook. Knueppel is +150.
Knueppel had actually been the favorite to win the award up until this past week.
In his first two games of April, however, Flagg put on a show. He pumped in a career-high 51 points against the Magic last Friday, and then followed that up with a 45-point barrage against the Lakers on Sunday.
Adding to the drama is that on the morning of Flagg’s 51-point outburst, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps ran a “straw poll” among 100 NBA media members regarding the Rookie of the Year race. A whopping 80 of the 100 voted for Knueppel over Flagg.
Cooper Flagg NBA Rookie of the Year odds: -250
Flagg has more than lived up to the hype as the No. 1 overall pick. The Mavericks forward is averaging 21.1 points per game, which is 24th in the NBA among all players. He is also averaging 6.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
For comparison sake, last year’s NBA ROY winner Stephon Castle averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Victor Wembanyama, who had about as much hype as Flagg while entering the NBA, won the prized award the year prior. Wemby put up 21.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg, and 3.6 blocks per game.
Flagg and the Mavericks have the following schedule to close out the regular season:
- Tuesday, April 7: Mavericks at Clippers
- Wednesday, April 8: Mavericks at Suns
- Friday, April 10: Mavericks at Spurs
- Sunday, April 12: Bulls at Mavericks
It will be interesting to see the level of motivation some of the Mavericks’ opponents will have this week.
The Clippers have clinched a play-in tournament berth, but now have no shot at getting into the top 6. LA will be plenty motivated to win Tuesday night, though, considering it wants to get the 7 or 8 seed instead of the 9 or 10 seed.
The Suns will also be motivated to play their top players as they currently reside as the 7 seed in the West.
San Antonio will likely be locked into the 2 seed by Friday night, so they may opt to rest some of their key players come Friday.
The Mavs’ season finale against the Bulls on Sunday could be Flagg’s time to shine statistically as Chicago has nothing to play for but pride.
Kon Knueppel NBA Rookie of the Year odds: +150
Knueppel has been a genuine monster shooting the ball this season. He has already broken the NBA record for most 3-pointers by a rookie in a season, and he did so with plenty of time to spare as he accomplished the feat in February. On April 2, Knueppel broke Kemba Walker’s Hornets franchise record for most 3-pointers in a season by a player, hitting his 261st of the campaign.
What could play a major role in voters picking Knueppel as the winners is that he has the Hornets in position to make the playoffs at 43-36. Charlotte went 19-63 a season ago.
Knueppel is averaging 18.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game this season. He leads the NBA in 3-pointers made with 265, and is shooting 3s at a sparkling 43.0% clip.
Knueppel and the Hornets close the regular season with games against the Celtics, Pistons and Knicks. Boston has all but sewn up the 2 seed in the East, Detroit has clinched the 1 seed, and the Knicks are fending off Cleveland for the 3 seed. So there is a very real possibility that some of those teams rest some of their key players, potentially paving the way for a showcase game for Knueppel.