Canada's Zach Edey Surprise NBA Rookie of the Year Public Betting Favorite

Zach Edey has had a wild week, going from mocked outside the lottery to top-10 draft pick and public betting favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year.

Andrew Reid

Last updated: July 1, 2024 12:51 PM EDT • 2 min read

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey is announced into the starting lineup as we look at his rise to public betting favorite for the 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year. — Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey is announced into the starting lineup ahead of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game. Photo by: Grace Hollars/IndyStar /USA Today Network.

It's been a wild week for Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies. The Canadian center has gone from being mocked outside the lottery for the 2024 NBA Draft to becoming a top-10 pick when the Grizzlies took him at No. 9 overall.

BetMGM - one of our best sports betting sites - has released data on early NBA Rookie of the Year voting, and the Edey numbers are staggering.

The former Purdue Boilermaker already has a trophy case full of accolades, but he's gunning for his biggest yet as he enters his rookie season in the NBA. He opened at BetMGM with +2500 odds, but after being placed on 24.4% of all NBA Rookie of the Year tickets as of Friday and accounting for 74% of the handle, he's plummeted to +900.

If you want to get in on the action for Edey - or whoever you think will capture the award - you can check out BetMGM's offerings using our BetMGM bonus code: SBRBONUS.

The journey

Edey was born in Toronto but finished his high school basketball at IMG Academy - a school that has churned out numerous alumni who went on to the NBA, including Dwight Powell, Jonathan Isaac, and Anfernee Simons. He committed to Purdue, splitting time at center as a freshman before taking over the starting job as a sophomore.

The tallest player in Big Ten history at 7-foot-4-inches, Edey spent the next three seasons grabbing accolades as well as rebounds. He was second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2022 and voted first-team All-Big Ten the next two seasons.

He was unable to lead Purdue to a national championship, as the Boilermakers fell to UConn in the title game this season. He did, however, lead the tournament in scoring.

He snagged plenty of other individual accolades over his four years as a Boilermaker, being named a two-time national college player of the year (2023, 2024), a two-time consensus first-team All-American (2023, 2024), a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year (2023, 2024), and the NCAA's season scoring leader in 2024.

Other stars

BetMGM isn't the only one of our best sportsbooks that has released 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year odds following the 2024 NBA Draft.

Alex Sarr, selected second overall by the Washington Wizards, holds the shortest odds of any newcomer to the league. The French center spent last season suiting up for the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) and is the brother of Olivier Sarr, who has spent time with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Our Rob Paul dove into the entire market with his 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year predictions, where he discusses Stephon Castle - the defensive-minded point guard out of UConn - amongst others as his favorite bets following the NBA draft.

Written By:
Andrew Reid

Andrew is a Publishing Editor at Sportsbook Review. He graduated from Acadia University with a degree in Kinesiology, working as a personal trainer and in injury rehab, and then attended the College of Sports Media in Toronto to attain a diploma in Radio and Television Sports Broadcasting. Andrew has been involved in the sports betting and fantasy sports space since joining the FNTSY Sports Network in 2014, where he worked as a producer, director, and occasional on-air talent on various shows focusing on sports betting and DFS content. Prior to joining SBR, he spent multiple years with the USA Today Network as an editor and writer. Living in Newfoundland, Andrew frequents grey market sportsbooks, but in the past, when he's lived in regulated areas, he's become well-versed with all of our best sportsbooks. As strictly a casual bettor, he enjoys making touchdown parlays with friends (bro-lays), sweating out golf cut parlays during majors, playing same-game parlays for fun, and chasing long-shot bets. He also enjoys using sportsbooks that have solid iGaming and casino platforms. As the old guy on staff, he has an affinity for industry news, which confuses some, but shh ... quiet ... the news is on.