With Victor Wembanyama out for the season, fewer NBA fans will tune into San Antonio Spurs games with any consistency. That makes it more pertinent for those covering the entire league to tell accurate stories on platforms like NBA.com or ESPN. The latest Kia Rookie Ladder from the great Steve Aschburner failed to deliver that standard in the most recent addition to the series.
"Stephon Castle and Jaylen Wells could just as easily be listed as 1 and 1A, and in either order," Aschburner wrote. He characterized the race as a "battle at the top of the Ladder," but that's misleading the witness at worst and ignorance at best.
Stephon Castle is running away with Rookie of the Year
San Antonio's fourth overall pick is currently -240 to win Rookie of the Year, according to FanDuel. Wells is second, but he sits at a +320. That's a sizable difference. Castle has maintained control of the top of the Ladder for a large portion of the season. He spent time at number one in 2024, lost it for a couple of weeks in January, but reclaimed the top spot on the 29th and hasn't relinquished it since.
Wells has been in second place four of the five weeks that Steph has sat atop the mountain. Zach Edey snuck in there on Valentine's Day, but other than that, the Grizzlies' rookie has been consistently second. But that's where it stops. There's no need to embellish to make it people believe that these two have been playing at anything close to the same level.
Over the last 20 games, the young Memphis forward averaged 10.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. In the same timeframe, Castle has been putting up 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. The ex-UConn star just had a 32-point night two games ago. Wells hasn't once scored 20 or more in the last 20 games. The notion that these two have been performing at a similar clip is inaccurate.
That doesn't include the star power the former Husky is already cultivating. His explosive dunks, posterizing his opponents, and the success he had in the dunk contest give him an extra leg up in the race. Popularity matters when it comes to these awards. It always has. Castle is likable, and his style of play is exciting. Add that into his production, and there's only one way this ends.
In the entry written for Wells, Aschburner claims that the edges he has over Steph is "Wells is starting and his team is winning," but he immediately discredits his own points by also admitting "though that's not traditionally given much weight in evaluating rookies." So, what are we doing here?
The San Antonio Spurs are on their way to having back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners. That has only happened once since the merger in 1976: the Minnesota Timberwolves with Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns. That possibility should be the storyline, not some nonexistent "battle at the top," because Castle has pretty much slammed the door shut on that one.