Early 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year Odds: Kings Guard Darius Acuff Jr. Offers Best Value

The 2026 NBA Draft is in the books, and there were really no major surprises Tuesday or Wednesday in Brooklyn. If you bet the top three prospects to go chalk in spots 1-2-3 to the Wizards , Jazz and Grizzlies -- like I recommended in this space -- then you cashed. And those three are the betting favorites, though perhaps not in the order expected, for 2026-27 NBA Rookie of the Year. But my early lean at +450 is guard Darius Acuff Jr. , the No. 7 overall pick by the Sacramento Kings .

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FanDuel favorites for 2027 NBA Rookie of the Year

- Cameron Boozer +240 - AJ Dybantsa +400 - Darryn Peterson +400 - Darius Acuff Jr. +450 - Caleb Wilson +950 - Mikel Brown Jr. +1500

Everyone expected BYU's AJ Dybantsa to go first to Washington, Kansas' Darryn Peterson second to Utah and Duke's Cameron Boozer third to Memphis, and that's what happened. They were the top three prospects on the CBS Sports Big Board, so they should be ROY favorites. It's interesting that Boozer is the early leader, but he's going to play a ton early and already be the face of the franchise once Ja Morant is traded.

Dybantsa looks built for the NBA body-wise but is still a bit raw, and remember that the Wizards have two former All-Star veterans now in Trae Young and Anthony Davis who could dominate touches. Plus, they have Alex Sarr , the No. 2 pick in 2024, and some other interesting talent. So Dybantsa isn't coming in and averaging 20 points and 10 boards per game.

Peterson is largely in the same boat as Dybantsa, as the Jazz have some good players already in place who will demand touches, with the likes of Lauri Markkanen , Keyonte George , Jaren Jackson Jr . and Walker Kessler , assuming he is re-signed. I believe Utah will be one of the most improved teams in the NBA next season, but I'll touch on that at a later date.

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Frankly, the draft was chalk through the top eight of the lottery. The top three had no drama, and neither did North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson going No. 4 overall to Chicago. Then it was expected to be a run on point guards, and that's exactly what happened: Illinois' Keaton Wagler (+3500 longer shot for ROY) at No. 5 to the L.A. Clippers , Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. at No. 6 to Brooklyn and then Acuff out of Arkansas seventh to Sacramento.

Yes, the Kings are the worst-run franchise in the sport, but they tend to develop point guards well before trading them: See Tyrese Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox . And with such a lousy roster, Acuff should see heavy minutes from the get-go. Let's put it this way: Sacramento's primary point guard for much of last season was Russell Westbrook , who hasn't been good since the 1990s (it seems) and is a free agent.

The 6-foot-3 Acuff was the 2026 SEC Player of the Year for John Calipari at Arkansas and won the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard. He led the SEC in scoring at 23.5 points per game and assists at 6.4 per. That made Acuff one of only five power conference players in the past 50 years to average at least 23/6. His 88 points scored in his first three NCAA Tournament games combined were the most ever by a freshman in their first three.

Acuff finished as the first Division I player with at least 800 points and 200 assists in a season since Morant … who happened to win NBA Rookie of the Year in the 2019-20 campaign. Sacramento had been linked to Morant as a possible trade partner this summer, but picking Acuff seems to take that off the table.

The Kings' last ROY winner was guard Tyreke Evans in 2009-10. They like guys who played in college for Calipari, regardless of school, as Acuff is the fifth Calipari-coached player since 2009 drafted by Sacramento in the top seven, after Evans (fourth in 2009), DeMarcus Cousins (fourth in 2010), Willie Cauley-Stein (sixth in 2015) and Fox (fifth in 2017).

There was mixed success among that quartet. But some of the NBA's current best guards in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Tyrese Maxey , Jamal Murray and Devin Booker also played in college under Coach Cal.

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The last six NBA Rookie of the Year winners either left college after their freshman seasons or didn't play at all in the NCAA as they were international guys. The most recent ROY who was a second-round pick was Malcolm Brogdon with the 2016-17 Bucks . I don't see any second-round picks on FanDuel's opening board, and that doesn't surprise me. The first pick of Round 2 was Ohio State's Bruce Thornton, who went to Houston via New York.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/2026-27-nba-rookie-of-the-year-odds-why-kings-guard-darius-acuff-jr-provides-best-early-betting-value/)._