Jaylen Wells stood 5-foot-6 as a freshman at Folsom High School.
He’s standing tall now following a remarkable rise to the NBA.
Wells, a 21-year-old Sacramento native, was honored Tuesday as an NBA All-Rookie First Team selection. The 6-8 forward averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 35.2% from 3-point range in his first season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Not bad for a player who started his college career at Division II Sonoma State before coming out of Washington State as the 39th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.
Wells received 96 First Team votes and three Second Team votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. He finished third in All-Rookie voting behind the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle and Atlanta Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher. The other First Team selections were the Grizzlies’ Zach Edey and Washington Wizards’ Alex Sarr.
Wells also finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Castle and Risacher.
The Second Team included the Miami Heat’s Kel’el Ware, Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis, New Orleans Pelicans’ Yves Missi, Portland Trail Blazers’ Donovan Clingan and the Wizards’ Bub Carrington.
Wells started 74 of 79 games for Grizzlies before suffering a broken wrist in a win over the Charlotte Hornets on April 8. The injury forced him to miss the playoffs.
Wells made his first stop in Sacramento as an NBA player when the Grizzlies visited the Kings on Jan. 3 at Golden 1 Center. With many family members and friends in attendance, Wells poured in a career-high 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
Wells was born and raised in Sacramento. He was named The Sacramento Bee’s All-Metro Player of the Year after averaging 26.3 points per game as a senior at Folsom.
Wells was named California Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year after averaging 22.4 points per game as a sophomore at Sonoma State. He entered the NBA draft after averaging 12.6 points and 4.6 rebounds as a junior at Washington State.
Wells wasn’t initially projected as a draft pick, but after a strong showing at the NBA combine, he moved up draft boards with the help of his agent, Maurice Johnson of PNW Sports, who is also a Sacramento native.