Spurs' Stephon Castle Talks NBA ROY Race, 'I Pretty Much Got It Locked Up'
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle is confident that he'll be named the 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year.
“I feel like, at this point, I pretty much got it locked up," Castle said, via Paul Garcia of TheSpotUpShot.com. "I mean really just continuing to be myself, not really think about it when I’m in the game. Just game by game, I feel like I’m more confident to be able to say that I am it.”
Castle's scoring average of 14.5 points per game ranks first among qualified rookies this season, while his 3.9 assists per game are the fourth-most among all first-year players.
He's also averaging 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game, shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from behind the arc.
The Spurs selected Castle with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, expecting him to operate in a complementary role alongside star center Victor Wembanyama. While both players developed chemistry together on the floor, Wembanyama was ruled out for the season on Feb. 20 due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.
Although San Antonio has gone only 9-17 record the All-Star was ruled out, Castle's late-season play has been a silver lining.
In 26 games since Wembanyama made his final appearance of the 2024-25 season, Castle has recorded 17.6 points and 4.7 assists on a nightly basis while shooting 43.2 percent from the field.
The 2024-25 Rookie of the Year race also features standouts such as Atlanta Hawks wing Zaccharie Risacher, Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr and Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey.
Castle believes that he'll be taking home some hardware after his first year in the Association comes to an end, though.
