Wizards rookie Alex Sarr has been working on his shot from deep.
Quality continues to rise to the top of the Kia Rookie Ladder. Or at least, quality as determined last spring through the labors of so many scouts, coaches, general managers and other talent evaluators heading into the 2024 NBA Draft.
The order is a bit jumbled from June, but the rookies ranked in the top three, with barely two weeks left in the regular season, all heard their names called in the first 20 minutes or so by commissioner Adam Silver that night.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle was the No. 4 pick but continues to reign as king of the Ladder. Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher was the first overall pick and has closed to No. 2 after five months of action and new experiences. Meanwhile, Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr has climbed to No. 3, one spot below his Draft position, with improvement across the board.
Castle has seized opportunities for the Spurs. With stars Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox done for the season, his usage percentage in March is 28.7. That’s higher than the season numbers posted by the likes of Trae Young (28.6), Stephen Curry (28.3) and Nikola Jokić (28.3). Defensively, Castle has had a strong presence, too, for a San Antonio team that already has won nine more games than last season.
Risacher has averaged 15 points on 53% shooting over his past 14 games. And when he scored 13 consecutive points in the third quarter against the Sixers Sunday night, on his way to 22, it was the third time this season the 6-foot-8 forward scored at least 16 in a single quarter.
Here are the latest rankings, with 18 days left before the Kia Rookie of the Year ballots are cast:
Weekly recap
• The Bulls have been saying hello when it’s almost time to stay goodbye — going 4-2 on their trip West — and that includes rookie Matas Buzelis. The lanky forward put on a show vs. the Lakers, scoring 31 points, matching up with LeBron James, putting a slick move on Dončić and getting the rookie hazing in the visitors’ locker room.
One argument is that Chicago’s short leash on Buzelis through the All-Star break (14.8 minutes per game) kept him from being overmatched and overwhelmed. The other is, just think if they had used him more than, oh, 2020 draft disappointment Patrick Williams.
• No rookie has played more games than Detroit’s Ron Holland II, and only Memphis’ Jaylen Wells (43) has participated in more than Holland’s 40 victories. Granted, his average involvement — 6.5 points in 15.6 minutes — hasn’t dictated many of those outcomes, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. The 19-year-old from Duncanville, Texas, matched his season high with 26 points, five rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes against New Orleans. His hustle and defense also swung the game in the Pistons’ favor.
“Just coming into the season, as a rookie, my main focus was to let them know that I’m here,” Holland told reporters. “As in, I’m here to play hard every single night, in practice and games. I just want them to know that I’ve got their backs as much as they’ve got mine.”
• Following up on last week’s “Rookiepalooza” when Washington faced Utah, the Jazz won big thanks to the strong work by two first-year guys, Kyle Filipowski (21 points) and Isaiah Collier (16, six assists, four steals) compared to the Wizards’ one (Alex Sarr, 21 points). In the other notable game that night pitting Ladder dwellers, Portland’s Donovan Clingan outplayed Memphis’ Zach Edey in the Blazers’ 115-99 victory.
Storyline to watch
Suns’ infusion of youth. Phoenix isn’t likely to climb beyond SoFi Play-In Tournament status, but it could hit enter it with some momentum in part because of play from rookies Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodoro. The Suns’ recent hot spurt has been attributed somewhat by Bradley Beal’s absence (hamstring), and also boosting Dunn and Ighodoro’s minutes has helped defensively. In the 6-1 stretch since March 14, Phoenix is forcing more turnovers, winning on the boards and contesting 3-pointers better.
Latest ranking
(All stats through Tuesday, March 25)
1. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Season stats: 14.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.6 apg
Last Ladder: No. 1
Draft pick: No. 4
Castle has averaged 20.1 points, 4.3 boards and 4.5 assists over his past 15 games, but he got there the hard way Tuesday at Detroit. He missed his first seven shots in the blowout loss to the Pistons, then made his next seven, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the third quarter.
Stephon Castle pic.twitter.com/Z2SKFsChzZ
— PJ Hoops (@RealPjHoops) March 26, 2025
2. Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
Season stats: 12.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 2
Draft pick: No. 1
Add teammate Trae Young to the, ahem, unbiased list of Risacher-for-ROY supporters. “He’s been thrown into the fire as a starter,” Young said recently. “You put him up against some of the guys in the running, I think his numbers speak for himself, too. So he’s just not even focused on that. And that’s the best part about it. And we’re kind of, we’re kind of making it easy for him to just focus on the game, focus himself and having fun.”
3. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 12.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.5 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 5
Draft pick: No. 2
NBA maven Bill Simmons, in a re-draft of the Class of 2024 on his recent podcast, described Sarr as “Serge Ibaka with 3-point range.” Sarr still is working on that range (35.6% since All-Star break), but he averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks this week, with a pair on a single Toronto possession Monday.
4. Kel’el Ware, Miami Heat
Season stats: 9.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 6
Draft pick: No. 15
Ware seized the big stage of Tuesday’s “Jimmy Butler” game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, one block and this ooh-and-ahh highlight. In his past six games, “Wemby Lite” has averaged 14.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, shot 65.6% and gotten four of his 10 double-doubles.
5. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 10.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 apg
Last Ladder: No. 3
Draft pick: No. 39
Was Wells chasing stats or working on form when he put up two 3-pointers on Tuesday in the final two minutes of Memphis’ 140-103 victory at Utah? He had made just 12 of his previous 59 tries from deep.
The Next 5
6. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
Season stats: 9.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 4
Draft pick: No. 9
You’d think the Grizzlies would need as much as they can get from Edey with Brandon Clarke (knee) going down for what’s left of the season. But Edey has averaged just 13.9 minutes since Memphis’ backup big got hurt.
7. Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 8.9 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.4 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 8
Draft pick: No. 21
A hip injury kept him out Sunday, but Missi fired back vs. against Philadelphia on Monday with 16 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. He screens and offensive-rebounds beyond his years.
8. Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 8.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.2 apg
Last Ladder: No. 7
Draft pick: No. 29
Has boosted his shooting success every month so far, from 31.4% (14.3% on 3-pointers) in November to 45% (31% on 3-pointers) in March.
9. Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards
Season stats: 9.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.1 apg
Last Ladder: No. 9
Draft pick: No. 14
His father, “Big Bub” Carrington, died last week. The rookie notched his fourth double-double Monday vs. the Raptors (15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists) but has lost his touch (just 9-of-51 from the arc in his past 11 games).
T-10. Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers
Season stats: 6.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder: No. 10
Draft pick: No. 7
Bounced back at both ends on Tuesday with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks after a clunker Sunday vs. Boston.
T-10. Kyle Filipowski, Utah Jazz
Season stats: 8.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.9 apg
Last Ladder: Not ranked
Draft pick: No. 32
Big night vs. the Cavs (18 points, 13 rebounds, 7-of-13) and he’s made 11 of his last 21 3-pointers.
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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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