{"id":697877,"date":"2026-04-04T14:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697877\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T14:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:44:16","slug":"cooper-flaggs-51-point-game-causes-massive-shift-in-nba-rookie-of-the-year-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697877\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg&#8217;s 51-Point Game Causes Massive Shift in NBA Rookie of the Year Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">Dallas Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg isn&#8217;t letting anyone call the Rookie of the Year race just yet. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft scored 51 points on Friday night in a loss to the Orlando Magic, causing a massive shift in the Rookie of the Year odds with just over a week left in the regular season. Flagg was 19-for-30 from the field and 6-for-9 from 3 in the game, the third time this season he&#8217;s scored at least 40 points. <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udd25 51 POINTS FOR COOPER FLAGG<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd25 MOST EVER BY A TEENAGER <\/p>\n<p>It was also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Cooper_Flagg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Cooper_Flagg<\/a>&#8216;s 3rd 40-piece of the season, the most by a rookie since Allen Iverson in 1996-97. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zJJ4RSBlN9\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/zJJ4RSBlN9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/2040273581226000455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7k\">Flagg&#8217;s Rookie of the Year appeared to be hanging on by a thread after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/48380547\/nba-mvp-award-straw-poll-sga-wemby-luka-jokic-lead-final-2025-26-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ESPN&#8217;s Tim Bontemps released a straw poll<\/a> of voters that gave 80 first-place votes to Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel and just 20 first-place votes to Flagg. Knueppel has been a key piece for a Charlotte team that is in the playoff mix in the East, and he&#8217;s had the greatest 3-point shooting season by a rookie in NBA history. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7n\">After the poll was released, Knueppel moved from -250 to -1800 to win the Rookie of the Year at <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/4kJjtBu\" rel=\"nofollow sponsored noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DraftKings<\/a>, setting him up at the clear favorite <\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kon Knueppel moved from -250 to -1800 to win ROY today following the straw poll. <\/p>\n<p>This will get interesting \u2026 it\u2019s just one game but let\u2019s see if Flagg can have a monster finish. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jZGfSBGh6e\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/jZGfSBGh6e<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Julian Edlow (@julianedlow) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/julianedlow\/status\/2040271484367540532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7t\">Now, those odds have completely changed. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7w\">After Flagg&#8217;s 51-point outburst, Knueppel has dropped to -350 to win Rookie of the Year while Flagg&#8217;s odds are back up to +240. The Mavericks star is still the underdog in this market, but it seems that his performance on Friday night could end up swaying voters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7z\">Even though Knueppel has been on a better team &#8212; and has been a key part of Charlotte&#8217;s turnaround &#8212; Flagg has a chance to catch him over the final week of the season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">Knueppel has taken a small step back since the start of March, averaging 17.3 points per game whille shooting 40.2 percent from 3. Those numbers are still great, but they are under Knueppel&#8217;s season averages.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"85\">Meanwhile, Flagg is averaging 21.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game since returning from a foot injury in early March. The No. 1 pick is showing that he&#8217;s a future All-Star, and it&#8217;s possible voters may end up swaying in his direction since the Rookie of the Year award traditionally isn&#8217;t tied to the team&#8217;s spot in the standings. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8a\">Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8d\">If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8g\">Claim the latest\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/betting\/sportsbook-promos\/draftkings-promo-code\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and win your first $5 bet to get\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/4kJjtBu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$200 in bonus bets instantly.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg isn&#8217;t letting anyone call the Rookie of the Year race just yet.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,686,149,4057,166,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-697877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-dallasmavericks","12":"tag-mavericks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116346977494483838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}