Dallas Mavericks No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg was once the overwhelming favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year, but the award seems to be slipping through his fingers amid a disastrous season for the team.
Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel, who played with Flagg at Duke, is now the -240 favorite at FanDuel to claim the rookie honor, which implies that he has a 70.6% possibility of winning. A bettor would have to wager $240 on Knueppel to profit $100 on his winning the award.
Flagg is +185, meaning a bettor could wager $100 to profit $185.
Flagg was a massive -800 favorite at the All-Star break (88.9% chance of winning), but Knueppel has slowly overtaken Flagg, seemingly tied to their teams’ divergent fortunes.
Charlotte (39-36) is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and is guaranteed to at least be in the playoff play-in tournament. Dallas (24-51) is 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference and is 3-15 since Feb. 24. The Mavericks effectively punted on their season after trading 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis to Washington on Feb. 4.
For the season, Flagg, a forward who can play virtually any position, is averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks while shooting 47.4%. Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick, is averaging 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.2 blocks while shooting 48.4%.
Besides team performance, one clear edge for Knueppel comes at the 3-point line, where he is shooting 43.3% to Flagg’s 28.6.
The Mavericks have seven games left for Flagg to try to make a last-ditch push for the award.
Game schedule dates, times, locations
NEXT UP: Game dates, times, locations, channel
Rangers ▶
June 9 Kansas City 5, Rangers 3
June 10 Rangers 6, Kansas City 4 (10 innings)
June 11 Rangers 4, Kansas City 2
June 12 Boston 10, Rangers 1
June 13 Boston 6, Rangers 3
June 14 Rangers 6, Boston 4
June 15 vs. Minnesota, 7:05 p.m., RSN
June 16 vs. Minnesota, 7:05 p.m., RSN
June 18 vs. Minnesota, 1:35 p.m., RSN
June 19 vs. San Diego, 7:05 p.m., RSN
June 20 vs. San Diego, 3:05 p.m., RSN
June 21 vs. San Diego, 1:35 p.m., RSN
Wings▶
June 1 Wings 79, Seattle 56
June 5 Wings 104, Los Angeles 96
June 9 Minnesota 100, Wings 76
June 11 Wings 85, Phoenix 70
June 13 Portland 84, Wings 83
June 15 vs. Las Vegas, 7 p.m., KFAA, USA
June 17 at Golden State, 9 p.m., KFAA
June 20 vs. Chicago, 7 p.m., CBS, Paramount+
June 22 at Seattle, 9 p.m., KFAA
June 25 at Las Vegas, 9 p.m., KFAA
TCU Football ▶
2026 season
Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ESPN+
Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA
Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA
Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA
Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA
Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA
Nov. 6 at Arizona, 9:15 p.m., ESPN
Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA
Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA
Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN
Cowboys ▶
Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Sept. 20 vs. Washington, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m., CBS
Oct. 4 at Houston, 12 p.m., Fox
Oct. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video
Oct. 18 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Oct. 26 at Philadelphia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Nov. 1 vs. Arizona, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 8 at Indianapolis, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco, 3:25 p.m., Fox
Nov. 22 vs. Tennessee, 12 p.m., Fox
Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., Fox
Dec. 7 at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC
Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS
Dec. 27 vs. Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NBC
Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox
Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA
World Cup ▶
All local matches at AT&T Stadium
Group stage
June 14 Japan 2, Netherlands 2 (Group F)
June 17 England vs. Croatia (Group L), 3 p.m., Fox
June 22 Argentina vs. Austria (Group J), 12 p.m., Fox
June 25 Japan vs. Sweden (Group F), 6 p.m., FS1
June 27 Argentina vs. Jordan (Group J), 9 p.m., Fox
Knockout round
June 30 Round of 32: Group E runner-up vs. Group I runner-up, 12 p.m., Fox
July 3 Round of 32: Group D runner-up vs. Group G runner-up, 1 p.m., Fox
Jim Barnes is the Star-Telegram’s sports editor. A Fort Worth native and graduate of Castleberry High School, he returned to Texas after 13 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He previously was sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald and a freelance high school sports reporter for The Dallas Morning News.
