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With a new collective bargaining agreement in place and expansion teams in Portland and Toronto set for their inaugural campaigns, arguably the most anticipated WNBA season ever opens with a pair of games on Friday. We'll surely have some game picks later in the summer but for Friday, let's look at Rookie of the Year odds and betting trends courtesy of BetMGM. And surprisingly, there is not much early action on Wings No. 1 pick and odds-on favorite Azzi Fudd.

Aside from the incomparable A'ja Wilson, who won her record fourth league MVP Award last year for the Las Vegas Aces, the league's two most recognizable names are the Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers. Both were clear favorites for Rookie of the Year after being the No. 1 overall picks in their drafts and won it: Clark in 2024 out of Iowa and Bueckers last year from UConn. They became the only two rookies in league history to average at least 15 points and five assists in their first seasons.

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The Wings won the draft lottery to earn the No. 1 overall pick again this year -- only the fifth time a team picked first in back-to-back drafts -- and took another former UConn star in Fudd to pair again with Bueckers. Fudd became a record seventh No. 1 overall pick from UConn after being a first-team All-American while averaging 17.3 points while shooting 44.7% from deep in the final year in Storrs.

Thanks to the new CBA, Fudd will earn $500,000 in her rookie season, about seven times what Bueckers earned last season. As good as Bueckers was last year, the Wings were still terrible, and they are in a rebuild so Fudd will play a lot. Jose Fernandez is in his first season as coach in Dallas, the fifth different head coach since 2020.

WNBA Rookie of the Year favorites at BetMGM

Perhaps it is because she's the favorite, but Fudd is taking only 4.8% of tickets (tied for fifth-most to win ROY at BetMGM and 6.3% of handle (also fifth-most). Dallas opens with a marquee matchup at Indiana on Saturday.

No. 1 in tickets at 36.8% is former TCU point guard Miles, the No. 2 overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx. Miles also has taken the third-most tickets (14.3%) and has moved from +350 to +260. The 2026 Big 12 Player of the Year had 12 triple-doubles in her college career, third-most in Division I history. She was the fifth top-two pick in Lynx history, and they have had most ROY winners with five but not since Crystal Dangerfield in 2020. Minnesota opens the season Saturday against Atlanta. 

This will be the 24th and final season for the Connecticut Sun as they are expected to move to Houston in 2027. Could the Sun end their tenure with a third ROY winner in team history? One of those was the legendary Tina Charles in 2010, and she retired this week. Former UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens (+8000) and Frenchwoman Nell Angloma (+12500) are two longshot candidates for Connecticut. The Sun are at New York on Friday.

The biggest ROY liabilities at BetMGM in order are Flau'jae Johnson (+800), Ta'Niya Latson (+8000) and Lauren Betts (+600).

You may remember a weird thing at the April 13 draft as Golden State took Johnson out of LSU at No. 8 overall but then traded her to Seattle for the draft rights to Marta Suarez, whom the Storm selected with the first pick of the second round (No. 16 overall), and a 2028 second-round selection. So, the No. 8 pick for two second-rounders?

Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin got ripped for that, but it was apparently a pre-arranged thing with some speculating salary cap reasons. Johnson is taking easily the most ROY tickets at the book at 38.1% and fourth in handle (16.1%), moving up from +1100.

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Latson from South Carolina was the No. 20 pick by Los Angeles, the first pick of the Sparks as they didn't have any first-rounders. Latson is low on the BetMGM ticket board but getting the third-most handle at 16.7%.

Reigning national champion UCLA made history with a record six players taken in this year's WNBA draft, and the 6-foot-7 Betts was the first off the board at No. 4 overall to Washington. Betts became only the second Division I player to accumulate at least 600 points, 300 rebounds and 100 assists while also winning a championship with the Bruins. The other was Maya Moore with UConn in 2009-10. Moore won WNBA ROY in 2011 with Minnesota. Betts is second in bets (19.0%) and money (17.7%) and has moved from +750 to +600.