Yes if he successfully defends his title
No if he does not
Ding might be the weakest world champion ever: https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/14/chess-carlsen-and-nakamura-dominate-in-stavanger-while-ding-falters-again
Ding just got 10 losses and 3 draws at the Freestyle Chess GOAT Challenge 2024: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=125694
Ding's last rated over the board game was over 6 months ago at the time of this comment: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8603677/calculations
Ding has stated in interviews that he was considering retiring from professional chess prior to stumbling into the 2022 Candidates Tournament. I expect his lack of interest in professional chess to be reflected in his performance.
@GregoryG It also makes him very hard to prepare against, but I agree if a strong player like Caruana, Nakamura, or Firouzja wins the candidates, they’d be a moderate favorite.
@LuisPedroCoelho Ding basically didn't play chess since then. And he's too emotionally unstable. I think Ian, Hikaru, and Fabiano are all favorites against Ding