Wembanyama has only been backed up by the inconsistent Zach Collins, the often-injured Charles Bassey, or Jeremy Sochan, who is not a center. Bismack Biyombo only stepped into a larger role last season after Wembanayma had been ruled out for the season, and Sandro Mamukelashvili played more of a power forward role until Wembanyama's season ended.

Castle's win marked the second time in more than a half-century that one franchise went back-to-back with the top-rookie honor. Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins (now of Miami) and Karl-Anthony Towns (now of New York) were voted rookies of the year in 2015 and 2016, respectively.