As the 2024-25 NBA season celebrates its one-month anniversary Friday, the outline of who rookies are and can become is beginning to crystalize. While the likes of Jared McCain, Dalton Knecht and Donovan Clingan are recording some eye-popping box scores to rightfully dominate Rookie of the Year conversations, a slew of fellow freshmen are making waves in quieter quarters.
To acknowledge them, the SportsCasting crew each picked one under-the-radar rookie whose NBA career is off to a promising start. Let’s get to it.
Carlton “Bub” Carrington
Wielding three first-round picks this past summer, the Washington Wizards stocked up at each of the broad position groups, nabbing a guard, wing and center with their selections. At guard, Washington drafted Carlton “Bub” Carrington, a 6-foot-4, 19-year-old who spent a singular season with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Through 13 games, including 12 starts, Carrington has delighted with his pick-and-roll savvy, playmaking polish and off-the-dribble shooting. He’s averaging 10.4 points, 5.0 assists (1.8 turnovers), 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals, while shooting 38.9 percent beyond the arc (55.9 percent true shooting).
Despite only turning 19 four months ago, he possesses a sagacious ability to work ball-screens and reach his spots on the floor. As a facilitator, he flashes an array of tricks, including skip passes, pocket passes and laydowns.
He’s also shooting 38.1 percent on catch-and-shoot triples, 39.4 percent on pull-up threes and 51.9 percent on pull-up twos. His 55.8 effective field goal percentage on off-the-bounce jumpers pits him 11th among 64 players to attempt at least 50 pull-ups this season, per NBA.com. As a pick-and-roll ball-handler, he’s generating 1.06 points per possession (83rd percentile), according to Synergy.
Both in how he finds scoring chances for himself and others, Carrington sees the court very well. The first month of his NBA career has been highly promising and Washington should be rather content with his early progress. –Jackson Frank
Stephon Castle
Stephon Castle has quietly stacked together a few good games. Since becoming a starter for the San Antonio Spurs, he’s averaging a cool 14 points and five assists, while still locking in on the defensive end. He’s been more assertive offensively, and perhaps the most important stat is that in that stretch: he’s knocking down 34 percent of his threes on nearly five attempts per game — signs of progress from his collegiate days and first few weeks in the NBA.
I don’t necessarily believe a 3-point shot is make or break for Castle’s NBA outlook, but it certainly will allow him to demand more attention offensively, especially as he explores his on-ball game.
As he continues to explore that area, it’s the defense that’s really shining through. It’s difficult to be a truly impactful defender as a rookie, but the Spurs give up 4.1 points per 100 possessions fewer with Castle on the floor. His tenacity on the ball — mixed with his length and activity off of it — really help him live up to his pre-draft hype as one of the top defenders in the class.
It only helps that he can use that defense to propel his team to wins. –Es Baraheni
Stephon Castle clutch block on SGA. 🔒
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 20, 2024
Tristan Da Silva
Tristan Da Silva probably won’t end up on an All-Rookie Team this year, but believe me, he will be a part of NBA rotations for a long time.
He isn’t even two months into his NBA career, and yet he’s already a consistent starter for the 10-7 Orlando Magic. Yes, this is purely out of necessity, with Paolo Banchero on the mend because of a torn right oblique. But Silva is making the most of his opportunity. The Magic are a 3.5 points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the court, per Cleaning the Glass. Positive point differentials like that are a rarity with first-year players.
Silva is the ideal modern role player. He’s a big body with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and uses his size to impact shots around the rim. Opponents are shooting 9 percent worse than expected on shots within six feet of the hoop, per NBA.com.
Silva also has the read-and-react gene embedded into his offensive game. Second-side drives followed by connector passes like this are littered throughout his tape.
Silva’s current 3-point percentage (32.6 percent) is nothing to write home about, but that’s a small sample. His past pedigree suggests a bounce back. In his final two seasons at Colorado, Silva shot 39.5 PERCENT on his 4.3 attempts per game. The Magic front office has found itself yet another winner for this burgeoning young core. –Mat Issa
Kyle Filipowski
Ranking 26th in offensive rating (109.6 points per 100 possessions), the Utah Jazz haven’t fully discovered their offensive footing this season. That figure, though, is trending positively in recent days. Over their last six games, the Jazz are 10th in offensive rating (116.8). Aside from some magic courtesy of head coach Will Hardy, rookie big man Kyle Filipowski’s emergence has injected new life.
Across those six outings, he’s playing 24.7 minutes per night, averaging a sturdy 10.2 points, 6.0 boards and 2.8 assists. Despite many scouts — myself included — viewing him as fringe lottery talent, Filipowski fell to the 32nd pick in this year’s Draft. His offensive versatility shines in Hardy’s creative offense, just as it did at Duke.
His synergy with Utah’s other bigs, notably Lauri Markkanen and John Collins, has helped generate cogent offense. According to PBPstats, Utah’s offense nears a 115 offensive rating when Filipowski shares the floor with Collins and 114 alongside Markkanen. He’s also converting 71.8 percent of his shots within five feet (83rd percentile).
kyle filipowski’s synergy with utah’s other bigs has popped lately, his versatile creating/finishing offensive skillset fits like a glove in this offense and esp with lauri
utah has a top 7 offense over their last 5 games and flip deserves some credit for that pic.twitter.com/wjnh8yVFFV
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) November 21, 2024
His scoring, combined with robust floor processing, lets Filipowski act as a play finisher and play creator. The Jazz can deploy him on the perimeter, on the block or in the middle of the floor. He’s defended soundly — something most of the roster can’t claim — with his mobility allowing him to play on the outside and cover for defensive mistakes.
The 3-pointers haven’t fallen yet (31 percent on 4.3 attempts per 75 possessions) but Filipowski is impacting winning regardless. Most 21-year-old bigs can’t claim that, let alone ones drafted outside of the first round. He slipped criminally far in the Draft. Between both his play and deployment, the Jazz have made that quite clear lately . –Ben Pfeifer
