2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year Finalists Revealed

The NBA Rookie of the Year Award is a little bit chaotic after injuries to a couple of the rookies derailed the race. That caused the three guys that we have at this very moment as the finalists for the award. Those three players are San Antonio Spurs Guard Stephon Castle, Atlanta Hawks Forward Zaccharie Risacher, and Memphis Grizzlies Guard/Forward Jaylen Wells. These three rookies are great candidates for the award. Let us take a look at all three of these finalists in detail to see why they are finalists. 

Stephon Castle’s 2024-2025 Season In Review 

The betting favorite for the award right now, as of April 20, is Castle. Castle has elevated his game since the De’Aaron Fox season-ending injury. Castle averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game in his rookie season. But the highlight of Castle’s resume was his March and April. He averaged 19.5 points, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 4.8 assists per game in March. Meanwhile, in April, he averaged 18.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game. Those two months all but sealed up the Rookie of the Year award for the former UConn Huskie. 

Zaccharie Risacher’s 2024-25 Season In Review 

Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game in his rookie season in Atlanta. Risacher had an up-and-down campaign this season for the Hawks. But he did have a good second half of the season to get on this list for the Rookie of the Year. He could be a sneaky option to get the award from Castle because of that second-half performance, but I feel that Castle is a step above this year for the Rookie of the Year. 

Jaylen Wells’ 2024-25 Season in Review 

Wells is the guy who benefited from the injury to Jared McCain the most on this list. Wells did have a good rookie season as he was under-the-radar for most of it. He averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in the 2024-25 season for the Memphis Grizzlies. Wells is going to be a good player in this league, but he has no shot of winning the Rookie of the Year award over Castle and Risacher this season. 

Final Thoughts 

This year’s Rookie of the Year award is going to be Castle’s in my estimation because of the dominant second half of the year, including these last two months in particular. I will be shocked if anyone else wins the award at this point, even though both Wells and Risacher are deserving of the finalist spots that they received this year. Total Apex Sports is the place to be for more of the NBA awards finalists’ stories, and other NBA news throughout the playoffs this season. Let’s Respect the Hustle and enjoy the NBA Playoffs with Total Apex Sports.