NBA’s Top Rookie – Rose or Beasley or Someone Else?

We're now almost a month removed from the NBA Draft, and BetUS Sportsbook customers who like to wager on pro basketball are sizing up what kind of effect this year's draftees may have on their teams. I don’t venture far off the beaten path, but I thought you may want to know my rationale anyway.

Let's get started with the current basketball odds on who will win the Rookie of the Year award this coming season:

BetUS NBA Futures Betting Odds

To Win NBA Rookie of the Year

Anthony Randolph +2500

Brandon Rush +1500

Brook Lopez +1500

Chris Douglas Roberts +2000

Darrell Arthur +3000

DeAndre Jordan +4000

Derrick Rose +250

Danilo Gallinari +2500

DJ Augustin +1100

Donte Greene +2500

Eric Gordon +550

Jerryd Bayless +1000

Joe Alexander +2000

Kosta Koufos +2400

Kevin Love +750

Michael Beasley +190

OJ Mayo +350

Roy Hibbert +2500

Russell Westbrook +1100

Greg Oden +300

I don't even want to go down the list one-by-one here, because not all of these guys are going to be genuine contenders for this award. Granted, it is not a requirement that a player be with a winning team - just look at Kevin Durant, who played on a Seattle team who found wins hard to come by. But this coming NBA season, that "win" factor may become more prominent.

DERRICK ROSE (+250 in BetUS odds) is moving into a situation in his hometown that is just right for him. The Bulls are a team who never got out of the starting gate last season, but when the atmosphere was right around this team (i.e., the season before), it was not only playoff-caliber, but looked on paper like a legitimate challenger for the East title (of course, that's before the Celtics emerged). But against any other team in the conference, Chicago is not far from competing.

They have talented offensive people Rose can pass the ball to, which, for the moment, includes Kirk Hinrich, who will possibly be teamed with him in the backcourt; Ben Gordon (a restricted free agent), who was a standout when coming off the bench to provide instant offense, and Luol Deng (another restricted free agent), the sleek small forward from the Sudan. Joakim Noah should be better with a year of experience under his belt. There's a little depth. In other words, they're not all that far from being a very credible team.

And the presence of Rose fits in nicely among this crew. True, Chicago could use a power forward that can score with some authority, but the Bulls also lacked a pure point guard. Hinrich is more of a shooter and scorer, and Gordon is a scorer, period. Rose is absolutely unselfish, is not afraid to play defense, can penetrate, and will have a good enough jump shot that opposing defenses will not be able to play ff of him. He has the potential to create a "Chris Paul" effect for this franchise.

Of course, it's no surprise that Rose is one of the favorites. But one thing you may have forgotten is that last year's #1 draft choice, GREG ODEN (+300 in BetUS odds), has not yet played an NBA regular season game. So he is still classified as a rookie. A lot of people left Portland for dead when Oden went down with a knee injury. But the Blazers were very much alive for much of the season, winning 14 games in a row at one points and finishing with a 41-41 record, which would have been good enough to tie for sixth place in the East but fell short in the deep Western Conference. But Oden will be joining a team that looks much more like a finished product. The Blazers have a nice ensemble of players, currently led by All-Star guard Brandon Roy. And there is depth.