Stephon Castle wins 2024-25 Rookie of the Year

Stephon Castle wins 2024-25 Rookie of the Year

San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle has taken home the Rookie of the Year award for the 2024-25 NBA season, the league announced Tuesday. The other two finalists were Atlanta’s Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick, and Memphis’ Jaylen Wells.

Castle winning the award comes to nobody’s surprise–not even his own. He didn’t win the award unanimously, but he was definitely close to it. Castle earned 92 of the 100 possible votes, with Risacher earning five first-place votes and Wells getting the remaining.

A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VrvxR9N4tT

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 29, 2025

From start-to-finish, Castle was the best rookie and I don’t know there was much debate. Risacher was tremendous down the stretch of the season and Wells burst onto the scene and consistently contributed on both ends of the floor. Alex Sarr, Zach Edey (Wells’s teammate) and Kel’el Ware were all quality contributors at different points of the season, too, but this was Castle’s award to lose.

He averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game, shooting 42.8 percent from the floor and 28.5 percent from 3-point range. The shot wasn’t super efficient, but the playmaking, rim pressure and point-of-attack defense that he consistently provided on a night-to-night basis was the seperator.

Additionally, since the start of March, the former No. 4 overall pick averaged 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists on 45.6 percent shooting and 30.0 percent from deep. Especially after the unfortunate injuries to Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, he was one of San Antonio’s best players.

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The one thing missing in his game is a reliable jump shot. I don’t think his mechanics are that bad, but his shooting touch and accuracy will be something that he needs to continue to reform. He was a low 70s free-throw shooter this year, which suggests there could be room for improvement if he continues to work at it–and nothing tells me that he won’t.

Anyway, this is a well-deserved award for the UConn alum.

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