Stephon Castle delivered an epic dunk vs. Memphis in last week’s matchup.
While much of the NBA has been buzzing this week about trades both actual and speculated (even more fun) as the annual mid-season deadline approaches, the league’s top rookies continued to provide development from within, particularly in the cases of San Antonio’s Stephon Castle and Miami’s Kel’el Ware.
Castle was selected as the Kia Rookie of the Month for January for the Western Conference. He averaged 14.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists as a bright spot in the Spurs’ 4-8 month.
Ware was picked as the East’s top rookie for the month for his 13.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 1.4 blocks per game. The 7-footer, whose progress was measured in Miami through the first two-plus months, tripled his rebounds and minutes in January and quadrupled his points.
Through three months, six different rookies have claimed the six available awards. Philadelphia’s Jared McCain and Memphis’ Jaylen Wells snagged the October/November editions, and Washington’s Alexandre Sarr and New Orleans’ Yves Missi were deemed top rookies for December.
Here are the latest weekly rankings of this season’s top newbies:
• Castle and Wells went head-to-head Monday in a matchup of players ranked 1-2 in our Rookie Ladder. The Spurs guard had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, hitting 9-for-17 shots. Wells, one spot behind him on the Ladder, finished with only two points and one assist, but provided defensive impact in the Grizzlies’ 128-109 victory.
• In three games against the Spurs, Wells has averaged 9.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists, taking only 21 shots while hitting 47.6%. Castle against Memphis: 22.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, making 51% of his 49 shots.
• There was another intriguing showdown in that game Monday, this one where the air is thin was 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama faced 7-foot-4 Zach Edey. It was their third this season and Edey’s best: 16 points, 14 boards, three steals and a block. Wemby had 27, 10, five assists, two blocks and two steals. The Grizzlies are 3-0, and the teams meet again in Memphis on March 1. “He’s probably the only other dude in the NBA I can look eye-to-eye with,” Edey had said before the game.
• Add a pair of Timberwolves to the list of late-blooming rookies such as Ware, Chicago’s Matas Buzelis and Utah’s Isaiah Collier. Point guard Rob Dillingham and shooting guard Jaylen Clark. Injuries and illness opened minutes in Minnesota’s rotation and those two stepped in. Dillingham had appeared in just 15 of 40 games before Jan. 17 but has made 10 appearances since, doubling his production to 8.9 points and 3.5 assists with 19 and 8 in last week’s victory at Utah. Clark, on a two-way contract, has gotten busy even more recently. He played 10 minutes in the Wolves’ first 46 games but has averaged 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 16.3 minutes in their past four.
• Buzelis should finally get more run now that the Bulls have traded Zach LaVine and look committed to their overdue overhaul. The Chicago native had his best night in Tuesday’s victory over Miami, becoming the first rookie since New Orleans’ Darren Collison in March 2010 to make all 10-plus of his shots in a game.
‘Tall hockey player’ heads home. Memphis’ Zach Edey makes his first appearance back in Canada Wednesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass), with the Grizzlies hoping for a repeat of his first game against Toronto on Dec. 26. The 7-foot-4 center, a native of Toronto who attended Leaside High School and indeed laced on the skates as well as sneakers, had 21 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks, and was a plus-29 in 27 minutes in Memphis’ blowout victory on Dec. 26.
(All stats through Tuesday, Feb. 4)
1. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Season stats: 12.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 4
Castle’s role and opportunities might change with the arrival of De’Aaron Fox, but the fact that he’s still in San Antonio to find out is considered good news. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective podcast typified assessed reaction around the league as “My god, these Spurs got De’Aaron Fox, didn’t have to give up Stephon Castle.”
2. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 11.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 39
Wells continues to be joined at the hip with fellow rookie and Grizzlies teammate Zach Edey. The pair were drafted to play together in the Castrol Rising Stars competition at All-Star Weekend, picked by Hall of Famer Chris Mullin for his roster. He leads in total points, field goals made and 3-pointers made among rookies, and tops qualified rookies in field goal and free-throw accuracy.
3. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 9.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.2 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 9
Edey didn’t even crack the nominees list for the West’s top rookie — Isaiah Collier, Ryan Dunn and Wells did that — after putting up modest numbers (6.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg) in January. But he is off to a raging start in February, with 14 points and 11 boards at Milwaukee before his clash Monday with Wembanyama.
4. Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 8.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.5 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 5
Draft pick: No. 21
Eight double-doubles but only one (Jan. 3) since Dec. 19. Missi’s usage is down over the past month, from 14.2 to 11.5. Defensively he still has impact, with four blocks against the Mavericks and 13 boards two nights later vs. Boston.
5. Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat
Season stats: 8.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 6
Draft pick: No. 15
No one appreciates the East’s top rookie in January more than teammate Bam Adebayo, who calls his minutes next to Ware “liberating.”
“Obviously the young fella has been playing great and we do not want to turn his light off,” Adebayo said. “So for us, it’s making the right reads and making the right plays and getting out of each others’ way so we can be aggressive and put the ball in the basket.”
6. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 11.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 2
Out since Jan. 27 (left ankle sprain), will miss his 5th game on Wednesday vs. the Nets.
7. Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
Season stats: 11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 1
Youngest (20) in NBA history with 80-plus minutes, 64-plus points and zero turnovers over a three-game span.
8. Tristan da Silva, Orlando Magic
Season stats: 8.5 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 18
Returns to the bench, where he shoots 53.3% (48,5%) vs. 39.8% (29.5%) as a starter.
9. Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 8.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.8 apg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 14
Rookie wall warning: In his past 15 games, he’s averaging 6.3 ppg, 3.2 apg and shooting 30%.
10. Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 5.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.2 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 29
Averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 7.9 apg as a starter and has three double-doubles in the past two weeks.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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