One of the tightest races of the awards season, Rookie of the Year looks set to be between Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft, has been asked to do plenty early on a Dallas team hit hard by injuries. The expanded workload has been a valuable learning curve for the 19-year-old, who has recently settled into a more natural role as an athletic wing — and the production has followed. He averaged 23.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in December while shooting 54 per cent from the field and stuffing the defensive stat sheet. If he continues on this trajectory, it’s not hard to imagine him in the USA conversation for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 — especially given he was already part of the USA Select Team that helped the senior squad prepare for Paris 2024.
If this were a more typical rookie class, Knueppel might be running away with it. The No. 4 pick is averaging 19.1 points per game, hitting 42.5 per cent of his threes, and on 22 December became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 100 made three-pointers, doing so in his 29th game. That’s 12 games quicker than the previous mark (41 games), set by Lauri Markkanen in 2017–18.
For now, though, Flagg’s two-way impact and late acceleration have put him in pole position for the accolade.