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Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) bats away a shot by Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
On Thursday the Utah Jazz launched a campaign pushing for Isaiah Collier to be included on an All-Rookie team, prompting the question, who will be on the 2025 NBA All-Rookie teams?
The early season favorite to win Rookie of the Year, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jared McCain, had his season cut short after suffering a torn left meniscus that sidelined him after he played in just 23 games.
Since then, the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephen Castle has lined himself up to compete for ROY honors and is an easy lock for an All-Rookie first team selection.
In the past couple of months the Washington Wizards’ Alex Sarr and the Atlanta Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher have made really good cases for themselves and will probably get first-team selections, but there are plenty of arguments to be made about those who performed better in the first half of the season versus the latter half and vice versa.
The blunt truth about this rookie class is that it was not that great. But because there weren’t very many absolute standouts or blue-chip players who are miles above the rest, it leaves the door open to consider players like Collier, or even his teammate Kyle Filipowski.
“A lot has been made of his rookie assist numbers, but the most important thing to me is that he’s improved as the season’s gone along,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said of Collier. “He’s shown the ability to learn, his shooting has improved of late, his defensive understanding has continued to grow. ... He’s not anywhere near where he wants to be, but for his first season, I think he’s represented himself and our organization really, really well. We’re very proud of what he’s done.”
When looking at the pool of players who could take the last two spots on an All-Rookie first team (if Castle, Sarr and Risacher do take three first-team spots), the most likely candidates include Collier, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey, the New Orleans Pelicans’ Yves Missi and Washington’s Bub Carrington.
There are arguments to be made for all of these players but the arguments vary: usage, minutes, distribution of minutes depending on game situation, success of team, improvement throughout the season, contributions to winning, etc., etc.
For example, Edey has had some down play recently and if you look at his fourth quarter usage it ranks really low compared to other rookies. But he had a great first half of the season. Same can be said for Missi, who has struggled a bit following the trade deadline.
Then you have players like Collier and Filipowski who have improved as the season has progressed, and their best basketball has been in the past couple of months.
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Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) bats away a shot by Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) loses control of the ball during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) blocks a shot by Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) puts up a shot while driving the ball to the basket during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) puts up a 3-pointer shot during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) drives the ball to the basket while being guarded by Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) and guard Jalen Green (4) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) puts up a shot during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) grabs a loose ball from the air during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Johnny Juzang (33) dunks the ball during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) puts up a shot during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) brings the ball to the basket during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) passes the ball during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Johnny Juzang (33) dribbles the ball down the court during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) dunks the ball during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) celebrates after scoring a basket during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) puts up a 3-pointer shot during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz forward KJ Martin (99) attempts to block a shot from Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) reacts to his teammate, forward Kyle Filipowski (22), making a free throw during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) puts up a 3-pointer shot during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) attempts to block a shot by Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy disagrees with a referee during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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The BYU Living Legends perform a Polynesian dance for Polynesian heritage celebration night before an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) puts up a shot while being guarded by Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) attempts to put up a shot while being guarded by Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) and forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) grabs a rebound from the air during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) controls the ball in the tipoff at the start of an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 27, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Because the pool is large and all of these players’ cases can be argued in different ways, there’s no clear cut answer about Collier. I don’t know if the voters will put Collier on the first team, but I feel confident that he’s likely to get an All-Rookie selection.
And I think the same thing about Filipowski, especially if the latter half of the season is taken into consideration. Improvement should be something that is rewarded.
“I haven’t tracked all the rookies in the league and what they’ve been doing, and so I’m sure there’s a lot of deserving candidates out there,” Hardy said. “But, Kyle’s another player who has gotten a lot better this year. ... You’d be hard pressed to find a bunch of rookies who are playing better than Kyle’s been playing the last two months. And so if it’s about where they stand at the end of the year, I for sure think that Kyle deserves a lot of consideration.”
The Jazz rolled out their campaign on Collier on Thursday, and team sources said that they have one planned for Filipowski as well that will be coming out soon.
But even without the team campaigning, it looks like the rookies will be rewarded for the 2024-25 season.
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