NBA Futures: Who offers the best value for ROY?

Hard to believe, but NBA players will report to training camp not long after the Olympics.

Next season will be here before we know it. Now is a great time to jump in and make a value play on the Rookie of the Year winner.

Top-5 picks tend to win the award --  No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns just took home this year's trophy -- but there have been slight curve balls of value in recent years.

In 2012, No. 6 overall pick Damian Lillard won the award ahead of higher draftees Anthony Davis and Bradley Beal. A year later, No. 11 pick Michael Carter-Williams cashed tickets for anyone who backed him at 10/1.

Heading into the 2016-17 season, one-and-done talent headlines the odds board from 5Dimes.

No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons has dropped from the +220 range to +185 and is followed by Brandon Ingram at +600.

Both are sure to continue to draw lots of interest, for obvious reasons. Yet as freshmen last year, both struggled to handle the mid-point stages of their collegiate careers.

Simmons, in a subpar SEC, failed to lead LSU to the NCAA Tournament. Ingram faded in the rugged ACC.

It wouldn't be shocking to see both experience similar downfalls on dysfunctional teams like the 76ers and Lakers.

Buddy Hield of the Pelicans offers value with a team that's allowed guards to thrive in recent years.

Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, and Jrue Holiday have been big-time scorers in New Orleans. Even undrafted free agent Tim Frazier filled in admirably last year, averaging 13.1 points in March and April.

Fast forward to the upcoming season. Gordon and Ryan Anderson are gone. Evans (knee) won't be ready to start the season.

That leaves Hield with a golden opportunity to do what he does best: Score.

Unlike other draft picks, he is not diving into a crowded competition. The Pelicans' only shooting guards are Frazier and newly-signed veterans Langston Galloway and E'Twaun Moore.

Hield did struggle in the NBA Summer League, shooting 32.7 percent, but those five games should not be blown out of context.

Those struggles have cast doubt about Hield when there shouldn't be any. He's a pure scorer who poured in 25.0 points per game on 50.1 percent shooting as an Oklahoma senior.

I love that he's coming into the league with four years of college experience. I also love that he'll be the Pelicans' second or third featured scorer on a nightly basis.

At 10/1, Hield is a bargain.