As expected after suffering a torn meniscus, Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain fell outside of the top 10 of the Kia NBA Rookie Ladder in this week’s edition. The unfortunate injury to the 76ers guard provided a gain for the Grizzlies’ two rookies who moved up the ranks back to the top five, where both players spent time in earlier ranks before Zach Edey’s ankle injury that sidelined him for 12 games.
Zach Edey is back!
After a week of returning to the starting lineup for the Grizzlies’ three games, the 7’4″ rookie center from Purdue averaged 7.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks to help the team to a 2-1 record during that stretch. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had a lot to say about Zach Edey in their first matchup, and Edey showed that he remembered it in their matchup last Thursday.
The Grizzlies delivered the Warriors a 51-point defeat in Zach Edey’s first start since November 6th and he produced eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks while helping to limit Draymond Green to a zero stat line across the board with four turnovers and a -42 plus/minus. However, after a 10 points and six rebounds stat line against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, Edey met his match against Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac Monday night.
Zubac had a dominating performance against the Grizzlies rookie big man and others with 20 points and 20 rebounds while holding Edey to his worst shooting game in his rookie season with a 1-8 shooting performance. Zach Edey had previously only shot less than 50% in a game twice in his 17 games played before the Clippers matchup.
He did provide 14 rebounds and two rebounds to offset his three points and showed that he can be effective in other ways when his shot isn’t falling. Overall, the Grizzlies’ rookie big man has placed his name back into the Rookie of the Year race and his rise from eighth to fifth in the Kia Rookie Ladder shows just that.
Jaylen Wells remains steady
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ rookie wing Jaylen Wells continues to show a steady presence as the starting small forward after scoring 13 points in back-to-back games against the Warriors and Hawks and being the primary defender on Steph Curry in his two points on 0-7 shooting performance against the Grizzlies.
He was also the primary defender on Clippers’ guard James Harden Monday night, helping to hold him to 6-16 shooting. Wells continues to be the best second-round draft pick by a wide margin and has the best plus/minus total of all rookies. He continues to trail New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi and San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle for the top Kia Rookie Ladder honors.
