Ben Fawkes, ESPN Staff Writer 5y

Duke's Zion Williamson favorite to be No. 1 pick in NBA draft

Men's College Basketball, NBA Draft, NBA, Betting, Duke Blue Devils

Duke's Zion Williamson has been in the spotlight since videos of his dunks went viral when he was in high school.

Even though we're not yet in March and Williamson hasn't declared, you can already bet on if he'll be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

DraftKings opened odds on the player to be picked first in the 2019 draft this past week, with Williamson as the overwhelming favorite at -2000 odds (a $20 bet would win $1).

Zion's Duke teammate RJ Barrett has the second-best odds at +550, followed by Murray State's Ja Morant at +650. Cam Reddish is at 20-1.

Williamson is ranked as ESPN's No. 1 player in the upcoming draft and goes No. 1 in Jonathan Givony's latest mock draft.

Traditionally these types of wagers have only been offered at offshore sportsbooks, but the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has been receptive to new types of wagers and has different gaming regulations than Nevada. Legal New Jersey sportsbooks are allowed to offer betting on the Oscars for the first time this year.

Nevada sportsbooks did not offer any NBA draft props last year.

Jarrett Culver, Charles Bassey, Sekou Doumbouya and Romeo Langford have the longest odds at 100-1.

The 2019 NBA draft will take place Thursday, June 20, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Duke, now ranked No. 1 in the country again, next faces rival North Carolina. Roy Williams, coach of the eighth-ranked Tar Heels heaped high praise on the freshman and his blue chip teammates.

"He's got a combination of skill sets that I've never seen before," Williams said of Williamson. "There is a lot of attention, but he deserves it. He's backed it up."

Added Williams on Duke's top-shelf talent: "Very seldom do I think I've seen any team that probably has three of the top four, five picks off one team. It's up there in the stratosphere."

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