The Whiteboard: Zaccharie Risacher, Stephon Castle headline tight Rookie of the Year race

The 2024 NBA Draft was lampooned and lambasted, written off as a dud situated between two all-time draft classes in 2023 and 2025. That characterization has proven somewhat true — this is the least cared-about Rookie of the Year race since God knows when — but it's a bit unfair to write this crop of rookies off completely.

Several bonafide contributors have emerged from the 2024 draft class already. There should be a couple All-Stars, at least, when all is said and done. While there isn't a Victor Wembanyama or a Cooper Flagg to headline the affairs, this Rookie of the Year race has plenty of spice and intrigue.

The beauty of such a balanced, chaotic rookie class is that we never knew who the true "favorite" was for this award. It was pretty like throwing darts in a dark room. More established college stars, like Zach Edey and Reed Sheppard, naturally floated to the top of preseason bettings odds, but surprise, surprise. Neither is going to win the award.

This will probably be the only draft class in my lifetime where the consensus No. 1 prospect (Zaccharie Risacher) will rank outside the top 10 on my personal board. The 2024 draft was very much an eye of the beholder event. Everyone had different takes of which prospects might emerge from the chaos.

It's too early to know for sure how this draft class will be perceived and reordered in the long run, but we can dish out definitive opinions of which rookies deserve top honors this season. Here are my final Rookie of the Year rankings for 2024-25.

Honorable mentions: Alex Sarr, Kyle Filipowski, Matas Buzelis, Kel'el Ware, Yves Missi

5. Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers

Donovan Clingan has been as-advertised for the Portland Trail Blazers, albeit in limited minutes. He's averaging 6.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 19.6 minutes, numbers that all extrapolate quite tantalizingly to a heftier workload. Portland still needs to figure out Deandre Ayton's future, but Clingan is very clearly a foundational piece in the middle.

He's not the sexiest name on the list, but Clingan has DPOY upside rooted in his gaping 7-foot-7 wingspan and elite instincts on the back line. He's a prolific shot-blocker in drop coverage, swallowing space in the paint and deterring most guards from even testing him at the rim. Clingan inhales rebounds on both ends (17.1 OREB%, 25.8 DREB%), changes the geometry of the court on defense, and finishes efficiently on simple lobs and dump-offs. He will never be a go-to scorer, but Clingan can operate as a fulcrum of a top defense.

4. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies

Jaylen Wells, the No. 39 pick in last year's draft, graduated into the Memphis Grizzlies' starting lineup five games into the season. He has not left it since, averaging 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on .425/.352/.822 splits in 25.9 minutes. Wells is not necessarily the most exciting player to watch, but there's something to be said for dependability from a rookie.

I'm not sure there is a single prospect from this class with a higher baseline impact, front to back this season, than Wells. He has been remarkably steadfast for the Grizzlies, occupying an important role and doing all that's asked of him as a spot-up shooter, connective passer, and positional defender. Wells won't create his own offense or extend the limits of his skill set, so perhaps the upside is muted compared to others on this list. But in terms of rookie season contributions, Wells stands on his own.

He leads all rookies in games played (79) and games started (74). Again, as a second-round pick. His season came to an unfortunate end on a dirty play this week, but Wells has done enough to crack the All-Rookie first team and earn a permanent spot in the Grizzlies rotation.

3. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies

In terms of per-minute impact, there's a real case for handing this award to Zach Edey. The Grizzlies' big man has done what was asked of him, scoring with extreme efficiency in the post and changing the geometry of the court with his massive 7-foot-4 frame. He has been limited to 21.1 minutes per game, as Edey is not built for every defensive matchup, but the production is exceptional on small volume.

Taylor Jenkins was fired for myriad reasons we may never fully understand, but a huge sticking point — at least for fans — was his unwillingness to embrace the Edey-Morant pick-and-roll. Edey has returned to the starting lineup in recent games and he feels like a real lynchpin for Memphis' future. He can set wide screens for Morant, score with touch or power inside, and dominate the glass as one would expect.

Averaging 9.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks on .579/.346/.714 splits, Edey is a unique and highly impactful weapon, even if his quirks will keep him out of a high-minutes, high-usage role long term.

2. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs

Stephon Castle has assumed a robust workload since Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox went down with season-ending injuries. Really ever since the All-Star break, Castle has been on a star's ascent for the San Antonio Spurs, upping his involvement in the offense while continuing to supply sturdy defense on the perimeter.

He feels like the runaway favorite to win this award. Castle leads all rookies in points (14.6), and while the efficiency has not been great (52.1percent true shooting), his 3-point shot has come on much stronger in the late stages of the campaign. Castle is a strong, physical slasher, with enough playmaking chops to carry the offense when needed. He also offers a ton of winning intangibles.

In terms of overall value added since the beginning of the season, Castle is probably the "best" rookie this season. He has certainly had the most put on his plate, and for a team that was not outright tanking until recently. This award is determined by various criteria between different voters, but Castle would be a worthy victor.

1. Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks

As a hardened skeptic of the Zaccharie Risacher pick last June, I'll be the first to admit defeat. The No. 1 overall pick needed a few weeks to get his feet wet against NBA competition, but it has been a steadfast rise ever since — and especially after the All-Star break.

The Atlanta Hawks are back in the Play-In Tournament, and while Risacher is not the engine driving Atlanta's success, he has been an essential support beam for a group led by Trae Young. Risacher continues to limit mistakes (1.2 turnovers per game), hit 3s at a reasonably healthy clip, and provide rangy defense on the wing. He stepped up when Jalen Johnson went down with an injury, and for long stretches of the 2025 calendar year, Risacher has looked like the clear second-best player on a team hoping to crack the playoffs.

Risacher does not create his own offense much at all, but he is a remarkably polished off-ball scorer at 20 years old. It leads to performances like this, dropping 36 points and five 3s on the Bucks. I count one dribble in the entire highlight reel.

There is something bordering on Klay Thompson-esque with Risacher's game. He knows exactly when to cut and relocate in the flow of the offense. Young is obviously one of the game's best passers, which Risacher takes full advantage of. He makes himself available and can finish at high degrees of difficultly, whether he's running off a screen for a 3 or hanging at the rim for an off-hand finish in traffic.

Sometimes ya just whiff on your pre-draft evaluations. Risacher has made me eat crow, and on the strength of his second half alone, he feels like the most worthy Rookie of the Year candidate. He is definitely the best rookie playing basketball right now.

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NBA news roundup:

• Luka Dončić dropped 45 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in an emotional return to Dallas. The Mavs' tribute video brought visible tears to Doncic's eyes, and the former Mavs star received loud ovations throughout the night. Much to the chagrin of Nico Harrison, Doncic vastly outperformed Anthony Davis.

• JT Toppin, the No. 31 prospect at FanSided, has announced his intention to return to Texas Tech for his junior season. Bennett Stirtz, a March Madness hero and our No. 17 prospect, plans to follow former Drake head coach Ben McCollum to Iowa. As NIL takes hold of college basketball, expect more and more prospects without solid first-round guarantees to stick in school longer.

• According to The Athletic, Michael Malone's tendency to prioritize Russell Westbrook over second-year point guard Jalen Pickett was a source of frustration for former Nuggets GM Calvin Booth. The deterioration of that relationship, plus Denver's recent on-court struggles, clearly factored into their stunning dismissal.

Quentin Grimes, fact or fiction?

Quentin Grimes has averaged 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.9 assists on .477/.389/.748 splits in 27 games with the Philadelphia 76ers. Those numbers look fake. In a sense, they are. He has been thrust into a cumbersome role with Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey all hurt, essentially operating at the tank commander for the worst team in basketball over the final month and change of the NBA season.

So, how much stock should we put into these March and April buckets from Grimes? Nico Harrison followed up the Luka Dončić trade by shipping Grimes (and a second-round pick!) to Philadelphia for Caleb Martin, who has been either hurt or unplayable in Dallas. If we weren't so focused on the gobsmacking Dončić trade, we'd probably be talking about how the Grimes trade was the most egregious misstep from a GM this season.

Grimes is a restricted free agent at this summer, which means the Sixers will need to assign some form of monetary value to the 24-year-old's fluky production. We can safely assume Grimes will never carry this hefty a burden ever again — whether he's in Philly or elsewhere — but I'm not so sure we can chalk this up as a complete nonsense run. Grimes is showing real, translatable growth across the board, and it should lead to consistent production long term, even if he's in a more streamlined role.

The thing here is, Grimes has always been good! He isn't a fringe nobody stepping into a featured role all of a sudden. Grimes has been a solid, dependable 3-and-D wing for years now, even as he has bounced around from team to team. He's still young, too. It's not like 24-year-olds unlocking a new level of impact in the NBA is unheard of.

Grimes has shouldered an immense offensive volume for the Sixers on pristine efficiency. He is the focal point of the opposing scouting report every night, and he's still finding ways to put points on the board without completely shredding his field goal percentage.

More than pure buckets, however, all this feels very scalable. Grimes is hitting movement 3s, making decisive moves to the rim, and stepping into open shots off of cuts or relocations. That will all work when he's playing next to Embiid and Maxey next season. We won't see quite as many isos, perhaps, but Grimes can still bomb 3s, attack rotating defenders off the catch, and connect dots with his sudden and sharp growth as a playmaker. He's also Philly's best point-of-attack defender on the perimeter.

This Grimes breakout is real, folks. Trust it. Buy stock.