Stephon Castle: I have the Rookie of the Year award ‘locked up’

Stephon Castle: I have the Rookie of the Year award ‘locked up’

Unfortunately, injuries crushed the San Antonio Spurs at the wrong time, preventing them from making the postseason in Victor Wembanyama‘s second season. However, one of the few constants has been the emergence of first-round rookie Stephon Castle, the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

While he hasn’t shot the ball well from deep this season, the 6-foot-6 has constantly provided a positive impact in San Antonio’s rotation on both ends of the floor. He’s been a Rookie of the Year candidate all season, and if you ask him, he’s all but sealed the award.

“I feel like at this point, I pretty much got it locked up,” he said earlier this week regarding the award, according to Clutch Points’ Hector Ledesma. “Game-by-game, I’m more confident from being able to say I am (the Rookie of the Year).”

Entering Tuesday, Castle leads all rookies in total points and steals while ranking No. 8 in rebounds and No. 3 in assists. Surprisingly enough, the impact metrics don’t favor him all that much. Among 35 rookies that have played at least 500 total minutes, he’s 23rd in win shares and box plus-minus, 26th in win shares per 48 minutes and 10th in PER.

Outside of him consistently defending the opponents’ first- or second-best option on a nightly basis, Castle’s baseline level of production relative to his peers makes this award for him to lose.

He was already the arguable frontrunner after Wembanyama’s injury, but his uptick in usage and productivity–in addition to De’Aaron Fox‘s season-ending finger injury–has lengthened the gap between him and the next-best rookie. Since the start of March, he’s averaging 19.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists on 44.9 percent shooting and 54.0 percent true shooting.

For most of the season, it’s mostly been a two-horse race between him and Memphis’ Jaylen Wells. I think Zaccharie Risacher‘s two-way prowess over the last month warrants credit; Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr have been solid all season despite the inefficiency; Yves Missi, Kel’el Ware, Dalton Knecht, Matas Buzelis and Isaiah Collier have all shown serious flashes at different points of the season; Zach Edey has been promising since the Grizzlies’ coaching change.

That said, I still think it’s Castle’s to lose–and he does too.

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