Kia Rookie Ladder: Jared McCain, Dalton Knecht start flying

On November 23, 2024By Littum

Dalton Knecht delivered a dazzling shooting display in Tuesday’s win against the Jazz.

Like airports and credit cards, this is an increasingly busy time of year for the Kia Rookie Ladder.

A combination of small sample sizes in evaluating the new players’ contributions, with hot weeks or streaks when they carve out roles in their team’s pecking order, can produce rises and falls beyond what we get in February or March.

Such was the case this week with the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jared McCain and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht.

Rookies have reached or topped 20 points in a game 14 times in the first month of the season – and McCain has five of them. They’ve all come in stride since the Sixers have leaned on him through Tyrese Maxey’s hamstring absence.

Two of the other nine belong to Knecht, who blew past that threshold, scoring 37 Tuesday vs. Utah. Heck, the 6-foot-6 wing scored 21 points in the third quarter alone. He tied the NBA rookie record with nine 3-pointers, leading to a return nod to Michael Jordan’s hot hand in the 1992 NBA Finals vs. Portland – which came almost nine years before Knecht was born.

The performance also gave rise to a happy, positive and profane assessment by LeBron James of a player who already looks like the steal of the Draft.

Here’s more about them, as well as eight other rung holders in this week’s Ladder.

Weekly summary

• McCain is the fifth Sixers rookie to post five games with at least 20 pointsjoining Joel Embiid, Allen Iverson, Jerry Stackhouse and … Lee Shaffer? For the uninitiated, Shaffer was the ACC Player of the Year at North Carolina, a 6-foot-7 forward who averaged 16.9 and 18.6 points in his first two seasons. Shaffer suffered a broken leg that limited him to 41 games in 1963-64, but what cut short his NBA career was an offer from his college friend to become part owner of a petroleum transportation company in Chapel Hill. The prospect of a comeback was legitimate enough that his rights were included in the trade package to San Francisco (Golden State) that brought Wilt Chamberlain back to Philadelphia in January 1965.

• Movement summary: Four rookies moved up or onto the ladder this week, while six slipped or fell off their rungs entirely. Welcome Donovan Clingan, making his first appearance.

• It’s very early, but so far five of the top 10 picks are in June not yet appeared here: Reed Shepperd (No. 3), Ron Holland II (5), Tidjane Salaün (6), Rob Dillingham (8) and Cody Williams (10).

Storyline to watch

Stephon Castle is on the rise. The San Antonio guard’s eight double-figure scoring games have come in the Spurs’ last nine games — all since assistant Mitch Johnson stepped in for ailing coach Gregg Popovich. And with franchise man Victor Wembanyama out for the past two games, Castle developed good chemistry with backup big man Charles Bassey. Castle and the Spurs have two games this week against Utah, sandwiched around an NBA Cup game against Golden State on Saturday at home.

Latest ranking

(All statistics up to and including Tuesday 19 November)

1. Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers

Season statistics: 15.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.5 apg
Last ladder: no. 5
Draft selection: no. 16

McCain’s big jump in the ladder came from big contributions. His production over the past week — 27.7 ppg, 50.8 FG%, 19.7 shots a night, 10.7 of those from the arc — is right in line with Maxey’s work in his seven games before his injury. Additionally, his usage rate of 27.3% ranks higher than Devin Booker’s and LeBron James’.

2. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies

Season statistics: 11.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg
Last ladder: no. 1
Draft selection: no. 39

Wells has said he hasn’t had one The “Welcome to the NBA” moment still – which is a good thing, as it’s often reality slapping for a first-year player – and taking a step this week certainly doesn’t qualify. Injuries open up opportunities for rookies, but rookies can also be surprising first responders when a team’s veterans are afflicted with ailments.

3. Dalton Knecht, Los Angeles Lakers

Season statistics: 11.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 apg
Last ladder: Not ranked
Draft selection: no. 17

For the record, Knecht was the prediction by the Ladder Committee (me) beforehand to win the Kia Rookie of the Year award from a wide-open Draft class. Just 72 hours before his 37-point barrage on Tuesday, he scored 27 in New Orleans. And his surge coincided with the Lakers’ six-game winning streak. Said Lakers big man Anthony Davis on Tuesday: “He can do more than just shoot. But he’s really good at shooting the basketball. We get mad at him when he doesn’t shoot.”

4. Zachary Risacher, Atlanta Hawks

Season statistics: 12 pages, 3.8 revs, 1.4 pages
Last ladder: no. 4
Draft selection: no. 1

Defined role, consistent minutes, inconsistent shooting for Hawks going forward. After hitting six of 10 3-pointers against the Knicks, he made just one of 19 attempts in the next five games before Monday’s 3-of-5 in Sacramento. He has been good at the line, sinking 11 of his last 13 in three games.

5. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies

Season statistics: 11.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.0 bpg
Last ladder: no. 2
Draft selection: no. 9

He did not play against the Nuggets on Tuesday after spraining his left ankle against the same foe on Sunday. The initial prognosis was “week to week” for the 7-foot-4 center. He averaged 11 points, eight rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in three games.

The next 5:

6. Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs

Season statistics: 9.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.5 apg
Last ladder: no. 10
Draft selection: no. 4

Tips from LeBron James on Friday, big block by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Tuesday.

7. Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards

Season statistics: 10.4 pages, 4.4 pages, 5 pages
Last ladder: no. 3
Draft selection: no. 14

Only member of the class of 2024 to average 30+ minutes, boosting his counting stats.

8. Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans

Season statistics: 6.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.1 bpg
Last ladder: no. 8
Draft selection: no. 21

The Pelicans’ best center so far is called “a sponge” by teammate Brandon Ingram for his learning.

T-10. Alexandre Sarr, Washington Wizards

Season statistics: 9.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.1 bpg
Last ladder: no. 7
Draft selection: no. 2

The lights turn on, the training wheels turn off – in a flash. Like this and this.

T-10. Ryan Dunn, Phoenix Suns

Season statistics: 6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.6 apg
Last ladder: no. 6
Draft selection: no. 28

Guarding top scorer can be a thankless jobespecially in a losing streak.

T-10. Donovan Clingan, Portland Trail Blazers

Season statistics: 5.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.1 bpg
Last ladder: Not ranked
Draft selection: no. 7

The defensive difference maker came within two blocks of a triple-double (17-12-8) vs. Timberwolves.

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Steve Aschburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email him herefind his archive here and follow him on X.

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