On Wednesday, Portland’s Donovan Clingan and Memphis’ Zach Edey face off in a rematch of last year’s NCAA championship.
It had been a minute, as they say, since Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher and Washington’s Alex Sarr asserted themselves in tandem in their 2024-25 NBA debut seasons.
The pair of Euro players had gone 1-2 in the 2024 Draft last June, only to hit expected turbulence as rookies. Risacher’s minutes as a starter sometimes gave way to Hawks subs when coach Quin Snyder needed more experience, defense or strength on the wing. Sarr’s slender build, too, sometimes saw him getting pushed around on one end or another.
Yet here they are, nearly five months in, back near the top of the Kia Rookie Ladder. They’re not in the Top 2 spots, but it’s as close as they’ve gotten in a while.
Lottery picks again hold down four of the first five runs on this week’s Ladder. Memphis Jaylen Wells reigns as the Round 2 outlier, the No. 39 pick who has played (69) and won (43) more games than any in his peer group.
Here is this week’s ranking, with three Ladders left in the pursuit of the Kia Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie consideration:
Weekly recap
• Sarr’s improvement is noticeable in scoring, 3-point shooting and defense. He has averaged 16.9 points since the All-Star break, compared to 11.4 before it. His accuracy from the arc is at 37.1% post-break vs. 30.8% pre. And his net rating, formerly minus 15.9 points per 100 possessions, is 11.9 better in the Wizards’ 10 games since the break.
• Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht has grabbed some of the available shots since LeBron James went out with his groin injury. Knecht got up 100 shots in his first nine games of March, hitting 50%, compared to just 42 in nine games in February (40%).
• Staying ready is a top priority for rookies who aren’t handed big minutes on inferior teams. And no one in the Class of 2024 has exemplified that more than Boston’s Baylor Scheierman. The 24-year-old from Creighton, the last guy picked in the first round in June, scored a season-best 20 points in 16 minutes against the Nets Tuesday when the Celtics played without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
His previous best was 15 in 30 minutes against the Sixers on March 6. That means, in Scheierman’s other 17 appearances, he totaled 15 points in 113 minutes and shot 2-of-18 from the arc (he was 9-for-14 in the big games against Brooklyn and Philadelphia).
Storyline to watch
Rookiepalooza takes center stage Wednesday as the Wizards face the Jazz in Salt Lake City (9 ET, NBA League Pass) and the Grizzlies play the Blazers in Portland (10 ET, League Pass). Six youngsters — Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George for Washington, Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski and Cody Williams for Utah — have been getting extensive on-the-job training as future pieces for their respective teams.
Meanwhile, starting an hour later in Portland, we’ll get Ladder centers Zach Edey vs. Donovan Clingan in a rematch of their NCAA championship showdown last year when Clingan’s UConn team beat Edey’s Purdue squad.
Latest ranking
(All stats through Tuesday, March 18)
1. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Season stats: 13.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.5 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 4
First Victor Wembanyama went out for the season, now it’s guard De’Aaron Fox (pinkie surgery). That largely has flipped the keys to what’s left of San Antonio’s season to Castle to run the Spurs’ attack and put up some numbers to draw ROY votes. Castle is the only rookie to score more than 900 points — Wells trails him 913-746 — or take more than 700 shots. He’s tied for most steals (61) among rookies while ranking fourth in minutes logged and in assists.
2. Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
Season stats: 11.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 1
Risacher’s minutes and stats have risen and fallen — he averaged 15 points on 51% shooting this week — but Hawks coach Snyder hasn’t focused on that. “I don’t want us to get hung up on Zacch making shots and saying he played well and him missing shots and saying he didn’t,” Snyder said. “I’m going to get a sign and say, ‘Zacch’s tough, Zacch competes, and Zacch loves to play – and Zacch loves to work.’”
3. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 10.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 39
Wells’ shooting has slumped to 32.2% in March, including 25.4% on 3s (15-for-59), and his 14 points at Sacramento Monday was his first double-figure output in two weeks. But Memphis won his minutes the past four games with a plus-4.8 while averaging 25.2 minutes per game.
4. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 9.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 9
Heading into Wednesday’s game, Edey last faced NCAA title game rival Clingan back on Nov. 10 when they both came off the bench in Memphis’ victory at Portland. The big Grizzly’s defensive rating is up lately as foes target his mobility in pick-and-rolls.
5. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 12.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 2
Looked rejuvenated in a big 2-1 week (24.3 ppg), including a season-high 34 (5-for-9 from the arc) to win at Denver. Only the fourth rookie since 2020 on pace to average at least 10 points, six rebounds and one blocked shot.
The Next 5:
6. Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat
Season stats: 8.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 5
Draft pick: No. 15
Some spotty outings against veteran bigs in the Heat’s current skid haven’t defeated the Indiana product. “Those are guys who have been in the league for a minute and I’m still learning through it,” Ware said.
7. Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 7.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.2 apg
Last Ladder: 6
Draft pick: No. 29
His flashy highlight against the Bulls Monday came at the expense of a wide-open layup for a guy shooting 41%.
ISAIAH COLLIER OFF THE BACKBOARD TO LAURI MARKKANEN OH MY GOSH pic.twitter.com/YzRB61DDWq
— matt (@aightmatt) March 18, 2025
8. Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 8.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.4 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 21
Came back from two absences (ankle) with 12 points, 10 boards vs. Detroit to notch his first double-double of March (he has 11).
9. Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 9.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 14
Only four Washington rookies since the 1976-77 NBA/ABA merger have averaged at least 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists: John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Tom Gugliotta and this guy.
10. Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers
Season stats: 6.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 7
With Clingan starting the past 15 games, Portland is 7-8. Half of his 48 rebounds over the past 4 games have come on offense.
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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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