The Rookie of the Year Award is a two-man race…barely.
Victor Wembanyama was the heavy favorite at FanDuel entering Thursday, listed at -700 while Chet Holmgren was +600. It was only a few months ago that Holmgren was favored (-250) over Wemby (+150). However, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick has been on a tear ever since. Wembanyama entered the Spurs' game against the Thunder averaging 20.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocks on the year. Meanwhile, Holmgren was averaging 17.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.
Holmgren’s last chance to stay in the race possibly came Thursday night when the two went mano a mano in San Antonio. It’s feasible that a dominant performance against Wembanyama could have narrowed the gap ever so slightly.
Instead, both players balled out with equally impressive performances.
Holmgren may not have made up ground, but showed why in many years he'd be the likely Rookie of the Year. He scored 23 points with seven boards, five dimes and one block.
Meanwhile, Wembanyama showed why he's such a heavy favorite to take home the award. He scored a team-high 28 points with 13 rebounds and five blocks as San Antonio upset Oklahoma City, 132-118.
Wembanyama wound up extending his Rookie of the Year lead by a significant margin after the final whistle blew. He's now -1350 while Holmgren is +1000. Brandon Miller is a distant third at +42000 while Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Brandin Podziemski are tied for fourth at +50000.
