Kia Rookie Ladder: Stephon Castle shines at the top; Kel'el Ware breaks into Top 5

As the NBA trade deadline quickly approaches, there is a lot of buzz surrounding potential player movements. However, amidst all the trade talk, the league's top rookies are also making headlines. San Antonio's Stephon Castle and Miami's Kel'el Ware have been standout performers, showing significant development and growth on the court.

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:

Weekly recap

Storyline to watch

‘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.

Latest ranking

(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

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.”

The Next 5:

6. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards

Season stats: 11.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Last Ladder:

No. 3

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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