Keaton Wagler has been doubted around every corner, and that hasn’t stopped despite balling out with the Illinois basketball program.
At the high school level, Wagler was a 247Sports three-star recruit who wasn’t ranked inside the top 200 nationally. The Illini and Minnesota were his only two power-four scholarship offers.
Wagler takes his talents to Illinois, and he wasn’t supposed to be much, as most people follow the recruiting rankings. He quickly took the reins and never looked back. A Final Four run was the result.
Drafted No. 5 overall, one would think Wagler would be one of the top favorites to win the NBA Rookie of the Year. That isn’t the case. Doubt continues to flow Wagler’s way, and that enables the chip on his shoulder to grow even larger.
In the release of the NBA Rookie of the Year odds by DraftKings, Cameron Boozer leads the pack at +240. You have to go all the way down to No. 7 on the list to find Wagler. He checks in at +2500 to win the coveted award.
The No. 5 overall pick drops to No. 7 in the Rookie of the Year odds. The top six consist of Boozer +240, AJ Dybantsa +320, Darryn Peterson +350, Darius Acuff Jr. +550, Caleb Wilson +1000, and Mikel Brown Jr. +1400.
Even the drop from No. 6 to Wagler at No. 7 is a +1100 drop. That means the people who set the line really think this is a race between six people, and Wagler is on the outside looking in.
The Los Angeles Clippers situation is setting up perfectly for Keaton Wagler to make a run at the NBA Rookie of the Year
I know that the odds say that it is highly unlikely that Wagler wins the Rookie of the Year. The top six are bigger names, and they believe those players are going to be duking it out for the award.
I would argue that Wagler is in the best position out of all of them to win the Rookie of the Year, though.
With the Ja Morant trade, the Memphis Grizzlies are going to be trash. Every team is going to focus on Boozer, so he might struggle. Peterson and Wilson have a ton of talent around them in Utah and Chicago, respectively, so they might not get the rock enough to put up the numbers.
Acuff and Brown could have it tough, too. They are both on trash teams that have zero building blocks or veteran leadership. That means they will be focused on, and they could struggle.
With Wagler, there is a legitimate chance Kawhi Leonard is traded. That leaves him in the backcourt to shine. I like the fact that the Clippers have Darius Garland to help guide him a bit. Having Brook Lopez in the paint is crucial, too. The team is set up well around Wagler.
I don’t buy into the odds for NBA Rookie of the Year. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to lay some dough down on Wagler to win the award. Get in while the going is good.
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