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Morning Coffee: A FanDuel Best Bet for NBA Rookie of the Year market
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The 2023 NBA Draft is officially in the books.
As it turns out, the lead up to the big night was a lot more fun than the actual event itself.
That isn’t unexpected.
Victor Wembanyama is now the face of the San Antonio Spurs. The Charlotte Hornets drafted Brandon Miller.
Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers have to be thrilled that Scott Henderson fell to them at third overall.
A little further down the board, the Toronto Raptors ultimately stayed put and selected Kansas guard Gradey Dick with the 13th overall pick.
While there was plenty of speculation that fuelled the movement that we saw in the NBA Draft markets at FanDuel ahead of last night’s event, there really weren’t any major surprises when it was all said and done.
The one notable draft-day trade saw the Golden State Warriors acquire Chris Paul.
While we didn’t get the blockbuster deal I hoped we would, there is still plenty of intrigue to recap in the fallout from last night’s draft, including a look at the early Rookie of the Year market.
This is the Morning Coffee for Friday June 23rd, 2023.
A FanDuel Best Bet for NBA Rookie of the Year market
For the second year in a row, we witnessed some significant draft day steam that ultimately failed to come to fruition.
A year ago, NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that sources were pointing to Jabari Smith as the first overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Paolo Banchero to go first overall got as high as +900 at FanDuel in the hours before the Orlando Magic ultimately selected him with the top pick.
While Wembanyama was the overwhelming favourite to go first overall last night, the big story was what would happen after the Spurs made their pick.
On Thursday morning, Miller to go second overall was -700 at FanDuel. Henderson to go second overall was +360.
Then we got this report from Shams Charania.
The market immediately flipped, and it was Henderson to go second overall that emerged as the favourite.
As it turns out, the Hornets were reportedly always leaning towards drafting Miller, who ultimately closed as the heavy favourite to go second.
Charlotte took Miller with the No. 2 pick. Portland landed Henderson with the No. 3 pick.
Looking ahead, Wembanyama is the obvious favourite to win NBA Rookie of the Year at -160 odds at FanDuel.
Henderson is the second choice to win Rookie of the Year at +400 odds.
Chet Holmgren, the 2022 second-overall pick who missed all of last year due to injury, is the third choice at +700 odds.
Meanwhile, FanDuel also has a market that allows us to bet on Wembanyama versus the field to win Rookie of the Year.
I’ll take the field at plus-money.
According to the league’s new rules, NBA players must play a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award.
That means Wembanyama will need to play 65+ games and perform at a consistently high enough level to separate himself from the entire rookie class in order to win the award.
He certainly has the talent to do exactly that. However, a lot can happen to prevent Wembanyama from winning.
I’ll take the field at +126 odds in the Wembanyama Versus The Field NBA Rookie of the Year market at FanDuel.
Warriors land Paul in draft-day trade
While we didn’t get the blockbuster deal that a lot of NBA experts told us we could see on draft day, we did see one notable trade in the association.
The Warriors acquired Chris Paul from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole, a protected 2030 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick.
It was an interesting twist just three days after new Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. appeared to commit to keeping Poole at his introductory press conference.
Paul, whose 11 All-NBA selections are the second most by any player in NBA history without a title, should be an intriguing fit next to Stephen Curry in the Golden State backcourt if he can stay healthy.
The Warriors are currently the fifth choice to win the NBA title at +1200 odds and the third choice to win the Western Conference at +600 odds at FanDuel.
Lions secure statement win in Winnipeg
The BC Lions were a 6.5-point underdog for last night’s Week 3 opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
They won that game outright by 24 points.
Vernon Adams Jr. threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns as the Lions beat the Blue Bombers 30-6 at IG Field in Winnipeg.
BC’s odds to win the Grey Cup shortened from +390 to +300 as the second choice. The Blue Bombers’ odds to win it all lengthened from +220 to +250 as the betting favourite at FanDuel.
Next up, the Montreal Alouettes visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in an East Division showdown tonight.
Hamilton is currently a 2.5-point favourite for Friday Night Football on TSN.
A FanDuel Best Bet for Friday night
It’s been a disappointing start to the week with the FanDuel Best Bets in this column.
We’re officially 2-2 on the week, but the most difficult part about doing this job is determining which bet on my card deserves to be posted here as the FanDuel Best Bet.
On Thursday, I placed two wagers on No Run First Inning bets.
The Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates gave me the six outs I needed to cash. The Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals did not.
Unfortunately, I gave out the Rays/Royals NRFI, which made for another bittersweet evening.
This morning, I’m looking to turn the page and get back on track with a FanDuel Best Bet winner to end the week.
My FanDuel Best bet is a same-game parlay with Manny Machado to record a hit and the San Diego Padres to win at -144 odds.
The Padres dropped three in a row before their offence exploded in a 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.
Machado went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the win. He has recorded a hit in six straight games.
Tonight, he’ll face Patrick Corbin, who he is batting .389 lifetime against in 20 plate appearances.
I like Machado to get a hit and the Padres to win at -144.
If you’re looking to get a bet at plus-money, you can add Ronald Acuna to record a hit to make it an SGP+ at +119.
Acuna is batting .364 in his career versus Luke Weaver, who has a 6.47 ERA this season. We should be able to count on him for one hit today.
I’m still debating whether to post my full MLB card later today.
Good luck to anyone who tails with the SGP or the SGP+.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone!