The Rookie of the Year race was always going to be tight.

The NBA just welcomed arguably its most talented draft class of the decade. The first four picks were all considered potential franchise-altering talents, while several others further down the totem pole were viewed as potential All-Star Wild Cards. While it's still far too early to say that this talent pool lived up to the immense hype, there is no question that the players are off to a very strong start.

Of course, the Chicago Bulls' Caleb Wilson is one of these players. The team has fully handed him the car keys, and he's impressed with 19.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.9 steals + blocks per game. We've already seen him make countless highlight plays, as he's repeatedly looked like one of the most well-rounded and versatile athletes on the floor.

And yet, Wilson's pursuit of the ROY hardware has taken a slight hit over the last week.

Caleb Wilson's Rookie of the Year Odds Slip

Caleb Wilson came into the 2026-27 season widely considered to have the second-best odds to take home the Rookie of the Year trophy. Cameron Boozer of the Memphis Grizzlies was primarily viewed as the frontrunner. Over the last week or so, however, Wilson has slowly seen his standing slip as several other rookies show out.

The NBA's latest Rookie Ladder has Wilson sixth on the list. He currently sits behind Yaxel Lendeborg, Darius Acuff Jr., Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, and AJ Dybantsa, respectively. In other words, each of the three players selected in front of him on draft night has officially jumped him on the list. Acuff was selected No. 7 by the Kings, while Lendeborg came off the board at No. 11 to the Warriors.

For what it's worth, the latest odds via FanDuel Sportsbook follow a similar mold. Lendeborg (+210) has becomethe favorite in front of Boozer (+250). Then, Acuff (+350) has the third-best odds before a steep drop-off to Dybantsa (+700) and Wilson (+1000). The only player who hasn't moved ahead of Wilson in both the NBA's Rookie Ladder and on FanDuel is Peterson (+1500). However, with Lauri Markkanen now out for multiple weeks, a bigger workload could be coming Peterson's way.

It goes without saying that we're still extremely early in the process. All it could take is back-to-back strong nights to vault Wilson back toward the top of the standings. With that said, there is also no denying the impact that Chicago's 1-8 start might have on Wilson's chances. Even if winning isn't everything in the ROY race, it's undoubtedly helping some of his fellow rookies stand out a little more. Golden State is 8-3 with Lendeborg playing a vital role, while the Grizzlies are 7-3 with Boozer.

If Wilson wants to overcome the win-loss column, he's going to have to take after Acuff. The Kings are even worse 1-10 on the year, but the guard is now averaging 26.2 points with 7.3 assists. He's already had four 30+ point games in his short NBA career.

To be clear, none of this means that Bulls fans should want to see Wilson force the issue. What matters most is developing him the right way and encouraging winning habits. The main takeaway is simply that what might normally constitute a ROY-caliber season is going to be different this year. There are far more candidates than normal, and Wilson will have to repeatedly find new ways to make his presence felt.