McCain leapfrogs Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick by the Hawks, who has also impressed during the NBA’s early going. Risacher remains one of the favorites at +450. Grizzlies center Zach Edey, who was the preseason favorite at most major sportsbooks, has the third-best odds at +500.

Selected 16th overall in this year's NBA draft, McCain was not widely expected to contend for Rookie of the Year. As of Thursday morning, however, McCain had the shortest odds of any player to win the award on FanDuel (+300), Caesar's Sportsbook (+250), ESPN Bet (+300), and DraftKings (+350).

Following an impressive freshman campaign at Duke, Jared McCain saw himself drafted 16th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. Coming off the best performance of his young career, he did shy away about his feelings towards his fellow rookies.

The 2024 rookie class was supposed to be a weak one. That has been the case early on this season. Last year, seven first-year players averaged at least 11.7 points per game. That's the high water mark for this class,