The amount of stock placed in summer league performance is my new favorite sports thing. Overreaction city. Look no further than the latest Bovada rookie of the year odds as an example:

Keep in mind, these are betting odds, so public sentiment comes into play, and I suspect most analysts would come up with a much different list. As such, Lonzo Ball, who dominated, didn’t move off his ludicrous line. But the lack of respect for Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz defies logic. Mind you, NONE of these players have played a single game in the NBA. Simmons and Fultz were widely considered, by countless analysts, talking heads and GMs, to be the premier players in their respective classes based on a full season of college basketball, workouts, and evaluation. And yet, because Fultz got a sprained ankle and Ben Simmons… did nothing… their odds dropped. Lest we forget what Ben Simmons did in the summer league last year? Lest we forget his size and the fact that he had an entire year to workout and practice with an NBA team? If Joel Embiid’s immediate readiness to play at a high level was any indication, just observing from within the confines of an NBA facility can go a long way. My money is on Ben Simmons here. He is a STEAL at that price. Fultz and Fox being at the same level is laughable. DSJ literally moved up a few points because he missed a windmill dunk. This list is garbage and there is so much opportunity to exploit that I’m thinking about flying to Vegas and plopping down a few STACCS on Simmons.