1st Player On The List Of Rising Stars Draft Is Amazing

There’s too much modesty here at Kia Rookie Ladder HQ to believe that Hall of Famer Pau Gasol used our weekly rankings as a scouting tool. Let’s just say that the roster he chose for the Panini Rising Stars event over All-Star weekend is particularly Ladder-heavy.

Gasol, one of four ex-player coaches for the mini-tournament on February 16, stacked Team Pau with Victor Wembanyama (No. 1 this week), Brandon Miller (No. 3), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (No. 4), and Brandin Podziemski (No. 5).

Jalen Rose chose Chet Holmgren (No. 2 on the ladder), Dereck Lively II (No. 6), and Jordan Hawkins (No. 10). WNBA Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings selected Keyonte George (No. 8) and Scoot Henderson (No. 9).

Gasol selected two members of the Class of 2023 who are not on the Ladder, Cason Wallace and Bilal Coulibaly, giving him six rookies on the seven-man squad. Only Cam Whitmore (No. 7 on this week’s Ladder) did not receive an invitation to the Rising Stars.

With Wembanyama and Holmgren joining different teams, fans may see a sixth fight between the two young slim bigs this season. They have already met twice and will play again on February 29 and April 10.

This season, the top two Rookie of the Year contenders are hosting a block party. Consider Rudy Gobert’s 129 blocks and 44 thefts in 2017-18, when he won his first of three Kia Defensive Player of the Year awards, versus Wembanyama’s 138 and 51 already.
Then there’s Holmgren, who, with 133, is only five swats behind his Spurs opponent and has already overtaken Kevin Garnett’s rookie record (131 in 80 games).
Holmgren attempted 6.5 three-pointers last week, while George made 52.6% of his 6.3. Miller, on the other hand, shot 10.3 percent from beyond the arc, trailing just Steph Curry (11.8%) and Luka Doncic (10.4) over the course of a season.
The Thompson twins, Amen of Houston and Ausar of Detroit, appear to have switched jerseys. Through New Year’s Eve, Ausar had the best numbers (9.2 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.2 apg) overall. So far in 2024, Amen is ahead in production (8.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.9 apg).

LATEST RANKINGS

(All stats through Tuesday, Feb. 6)

Keep track of how our rookie rankings continue to evolve throughout the season.

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Season stats: 20.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 3.1 bpg

Last Ladder: No. 1

Draft pick: No. 1

The Western Conference’s Rookie of the Month and his team have been off since Saturday. But that hasn’t slowed the rightful hype. Zion Williamson heaped some praise on the current one, saying, “He’s a dude that can get two or three Defensive Player of the Years and also, I don’t want to put a limit on it, but he can get Defensive Player of the Year and MVPs. We haven’t seen nothing like that.”

Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

Season stats: 16.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.6 bpg

Last Ladder: No. 2

Draft pick: No. 2 (2022)

Back to his sharp-shooting, plus-impact ways with 53.8% on 6.5 3FGA this week and +7.8 in 3-1 week. Holmgren’s Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside game has produced six nights with at least three blocks and at least three made 3-pointers. That’s a rookie record and four more than Wembanyama.

Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets

Season stats: 16.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.3 apg

Last Ladder: No. 3

Draft pick: No. 2 overall

The East’s top rookie for January earned generic praise from LeBron James after outscoring the Lakers star 33-26 and finishing +3 in the Hornets’ 6-point loss Monday. “He’s here for a reason,” James said. “He’ll continue to get better. I love what I see from him at this stage of his career.” No rookie has taken (258) or made (100) more 3-pointers.

Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat

Season stats: 13.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 apg

Last Ladder: No. 4

Draft pick: No. 18

He scored 12 against the Magic on Tuesday, his first double-digit night since Jan. 14 (six games injured, five of eight points or fewer). He’s presumably healed from that groin injury and will be needed as Miami has two more home games (Feb. 7 and 11) before embarking on a six-game road trip that will begin before the All-Star break and end after it.

Brandin Podziemski, Golden State Warriors

Season stats: 9.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.5 apg

Last Ladder: No. 6

Draft pick: No. 19

First rookie to stack up three consecutive double-doubles with zero turnovers since at least 1967-68. The Warriors wing totaled 42 points, 29 rebounds and 22 assists in 111 minutes at Memphis, Atlanta and Brooklyn. And he also compiled an impressive highlight package, too.