Throughout 2024-25, Stephon Castle has contributed and shown improvement on the court for the Spurs.
They arrived largely maligned as a group, with more than a few NBA media experts going heavy on the “mock” in their mock drafts. But instead of blubbering and pursuing a class-action slander suit, the Class of 2024 got busy playing.
And learning.
And yes, even helping a lot of their teams.
The players who populated this season’s Kia Rookie Ladder didn’t have the star power of recent Drafts that featured the likes of Luka Dončić and Trae Young, Ja Morant and Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards or Paolo Banchero and Jalen Williams.
It might be expecting too much to compare, in depth, this 2024 crop with 2021, which gave us Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and more.
But it’s early — that’s the beauty of rookies, they come back as “sophomores.” The 2024 Draft has thrilled several lottery teams with the fellows they picked, including some genuine sleepers who emerged from deeper in the first round or even from the second.
It just so happens that the Top 3 rung holders of 2024-25 — effectively, one voter’s ballot reveal for Kia Rookie of the Year — were all selected within the first four picks. The choices in order:
1. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
2. Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
3. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
To assess the arc of these guys’ season, let’s glimpse back to this first Ladder this season, posted on Nov. 6, 2024:
The Class of 2023 had a battle for supremacy at the top of the Kia Rookie Ladder — San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama vs. Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren — that entertained and lasted nearly all season. Wembanyama already is projected to become one of the NBA’s Top 100 (assuming that tradition continues in 2047), while Holmgren, Brandon Miller, Dereck Lively II and a few others realistically can aim for All-Star, All-NBA and even Hall of Fame consideration.
The Class of 2024? Early returns suggest more modest contributions by most of its graduates. They’ve started slowly, with only two newcomers averaging 10 points, four averaging at least five rebounds and two dishing more than three assists nightly.
But rotation guys, sixth men and reliable starters matter, too. What this group might lack in superstar magnetism, it should make up for with an evenly contested ROY race and frequently flipped Top 5.
These rookies found their footing. Heading into this final weekend, four are averaging double figures (five if we include Philadelphia’s Jared McCain, an early standout whose season ended in December with left knee surgery).
OK, not as many as last season’s crop (eight), but better than two. Being a little thin in points production doesn’t mean the latest crew was bereft of contributions.
Here is a breakdown of the past five rookie classes by the number who averaged 10-plus points, six-plus rebounds or four-plus assists (50 games minimum):
2024-25: 4, 5, 4
2023-24: 6, 5, 3
2022-23: 8, 5, 2
2021-22: 10, 3, 3
2020-21: 7, 1, 2
We could argue that what this group lacked in double-digit scoring, it made up for on the glass and by moving the ball. And that doesn’t address the rim protection from bigs such as Sarr, the Miami Heat’s Kel’el Ware, the New Orleans Pelicans’ Orleans Yves Missi, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan. Or the defense played by the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells, the Wizards’ Kyshawn George or the Phoenix Suns’ Ryan Dunn.
• Castle, San Antonio’s 6-foot-6 guard, is a worthy ROY choice. He has led all rookies in points, field goals attempted and made, free throws attempted and made, and total steals, while ranking second in total minutes and fourth in assists per game. He has scored at least 20 points 24 times, twice topping 30, with five double-doubles. His usage rate of 25.4 (and 28.6 rating post-All-Star break after teammates Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox were lost to injuries) also tops his class.
If the No. 4 pick from UConn does join Wembanyama in snagging the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy, the Spurs will have only the second pair of back-to-back winners in the past 50 years. Andrew Wiggins (2015) and Karl-Anthony Towns (’16) won the award in consecutive years with Minnesota. Previously, Buffalo’s Bob McAdoo and Ernie DiGregorio went back-to-back in 1973 and ‘74, as did Baltimore’s Earl Monroe and Wes Unseld in ’68 and ’69.
• Risacher was the first player selected on Draft night, and he bobs back up to No. 2 on the final Ladder. The Hawks opted to start the slender forward (he was born in Spain, raised in Lyon, France) who just turned 20 this week. He went back-to-back in earning the East’s nod as top rookie in February and March, and is the only rookie who has shooting splits of at least 45%, 35% and 75% since Jan. 1 while averaging 13 points or more.
• Sarr, chosen at No. 2, has tantalized with his potential and, somewhat inconsistently, met it with his production. His accuracy has come and gone, but the mobile 7-foot Frenchman hasn’t been shy, getting up 330 3-point attempts (only Wells, Carrington and George have attempted more). He is also one of only five rookies in league history (since both categories became legit stats) to have 15 or more games with multiple blocks and multiple 3s.
• If the ROY ballot went five deep, the next two Ladder dwellers would have their names clicked, too: Ware and Wells. Ware ramped up nicely, reaching 14 double-doubles in 61 appearances so far after logging only 69 minutes in the Heat’s first 25 games.
Wells started all season for the Grizzlies and had played in the most victories, with the best plus/minus (185) of all the newbies, before suffering a broken right wrist at Charlotte Tuesday.
Fortunately, the All-Rookie teams do go five deep. Here are my picks for the first and second units (which are never position-specific, and thus can be listed here in final Ladder order):
All-Rookie First Team
• Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
• Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
• Alex Sarr, Washingthon Wizards
• Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat
• Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
All-Rookie Second Team
• Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans
• Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
• Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz
• Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards
• Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers
Honorable mentions: Kyle Filipowski (Utah Jazz), Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards), Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls), Dalton Knecht (Los Angeles Lakers), Jared McCain (Philadelphia 76ers)
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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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