The Rookie of the Year field narrowed before the season began when No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren suffered a foot injury that will cost him all of the 2022-23 season.
That left Paolo Banchero, whom the Magic selected first overall, as the runaway favorite to win it. And though the odds are in his favor, recent history is not.
The last No. 1 pick to win Rookie of the Year was Ben Simmons in 2018, and the former 76er actually did so a year after he was drafted because he missed his entire first season due to injury.