As the playoffs have progressed, the league has continued to hand out end-of-season awards. On Tuesday, the NBA announced the first and second team All-Rookie class for the 2024-25 season.
Leading the way with two players on the All-Rookie first team were the Grizzlies. Memphis had Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells selected. It’s the third time in franchise history that the Grizzlies have had two players named All-Rookie first team. This last happened in 2019-20 with Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke.
Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells were named All-Rookie First Team for the 2024-25 season
Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team x2 🔥🐻
Congrats to both @zach_edey & @jaylen_wells pic.twitter.com/ddZdxkqxAM
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) May 20, 2025
This past season, the Grizzlies finished 48-34 and had to compete in the play-in tournament. Memphis earned the #8 seed in the 2025 playoffs and was swept by the #1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder. The Grizzlies did not have the star power to compete with OKC in the postseason. However, Memphis did find players it can build around in the future. The team had two players selected to the All-Rookie first team in 2024-25.
That was Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells. Edey was the ninth overall pick by Memphis in the 2024 NBA draft. He was a two-time Nasmith Player of the Year in college at Purdue. The 23-year-old played in 66 of the Grizzlies’ 82 games and made 55 starts. A majority of his starts were in the second half of the season. Edey led all rookies in field goal percentage and rebounds, 8.3 per game. The rookie had 12 double-doubles for Memphis.
Their second All-Rookie first team selection was Jaylen Wells. It’s been a journey for Wells to make it to the NBA, let alone be named All-Rookie first team. The 21-year-old was a zero-star recruit out of high school. He played two seasons at D2 Sonoma State and then transferred to Washington State for 2023-24. Wells was selected with the 34th overall pick by Memphis. He played in 79 of their 82 games this season and made 74 starts. The rookie averaged 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He had the most starts of any rookie this past season.
