From the moment he stepped on the court at Duke for the 2024-25 season, Cooper Flagg was likely to be the betting favorite for the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year award. Then, Flagg put together a National Player of the Year season during his freshman campaign with the Blue Devils, and he was the no-doubt No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Dallas Mavericks lucked into that selection and, as expected, Flagg is widely seen as the clear preseason choice to win the ROY award.
Given Flagg's varied skill set and the likelihood that he will be able to stuff the box score on a pretty good Dallas Mavericks team, he also should be the preseason frontrunner. Sportsbooks like FanDuel, Caesars, and DraftKings have installed Flagg as approximately a -200 favorite to win the award and, barring injury, it would be at least a minor surprise if he didn't.
With that said, there is still a chance of an outside challenger, and a darkhorse could plausibly emerge with the Sacramento Kings.
Sleeper candidate?
Over the weekend, word emerged that Kings forward Keegan Murray would miss at least 4-6 weeks after suffering a torn UCL in his left thumb. The injury will require surgery and, simply put, Sacramento will miss Murray quite a bit. The 3-and-D forward played the 16th-most minutes in the entire NBA last season and, without a bevy of clear options, 2025 first-round pick Nique Clifford could be in line for a bigger role in Sacramento.
For one thing, Clifford is the kind of rookie prospect that could be much more likely to perform at a high level immediately than most of his contemporaries. Clifford spent five years playing high-level college basketball, and he will turn 24 years old during his maiden voyage in the NBA. Beyond that, Clifford plays a polished style that lends itself to overall effectiveness in the short term, and he also brings a well-rounded skill set that could allow for varied ways to contribute.
Clifford was an NBA 2K26 All-Summer League First Team selection back in July as he performed well in six Summer League outings in Las Vegas. Clifford delivered on the pre-draft expectation that he was ready to contribute by averaging 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game in Vegas. Through two preseason outings with the 2025-26 Kings, he is also averaging 12.5 points, 5.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 stocks per game.
Granted, there is no guarantee that any NBA rookie, even among the most polished and mature prospects, will be able to produce strong efficiency. Clifford could go through growing pains, and Sacramento's offensive structure could provide challenges if spacing becomes an issue. With that said, opportunity is high on the list of factors that can produce dark horse candidates for major NBA awards.
The Kings do have DeMar DeRozan to lean on, but that was the case even before Murray's injury. Of course, Murray will also come back relatively early in the season as well, and that could stifle Clifford's potential to produce the season-long numbers to really challenge for ROY.
Still, Clifford's ability to function at multiple positions, ability to grab rebounds (9.6 rebounds per game from the guard position in his final college season) and produce assists, and general maturity as a player provides at least a reasonable window into him crashing the Rookie of the Year party. The award is likely Flagg's to lose and players like Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and VJ Edgecombe will garner more preseason buzz than Clifford, but he does have the advantage of team situation and age that could make things quite interesting in Sacramento if Murray misses more time than expected.