Stephon Castle named 2024-25 NBA Rookie of the Year

For the second year in a row, the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year is coming from deep in the heart of Texas (a.k.a. San Antonio). To the surprise of very few, the winner for the 2024-25 season is Stephon Castle, who joins Victor Wembayama, Tim Duncan and David Robinson as just the fourth Spur in franchise history to win the award.

Castle beat out fellow finalists Zaccharie Risacher and Jaylen Wells for the award, receiving 92 of the possible 100 first-place votes.

As the fourth overall pick, Castle ties Scottie Barnes as the lowest-drafted player to win ROY since Malcom Brogdon shocked the world by winning as the 36th pick in 2017. Castle was part of a draft class considered deep with role player talent but lacking anyone who stood above the rest, so the award was considered anyone’s to win. After a somewhat slow start, Castle’s production quickly picked up when he began starting in the 8th game of the season, and it was mostly highs from there.

For the season, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists, but his numbers varied greatly depending on whether he started or came off the bench in large part due to available minutes. In the 47 games he started, he averaged 16.6 points, 4 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 30 minutes, while in the 34 games he came off the bench, those numbers dipped to 12 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in just 22 minutes per game.

Still, Castle had a strong overall season regardless of role, winning Rookie of the Month in both January and March while staving off late advances from top overall pick Risacher to win ROY. If Castle wasn’t being noticed already, he definitely caught the public’s eye during All-Star Weekend, where he made an appearance all three days. He led his Rising Stars team to victory while being voted MVP, came in second to Mac McClung in the Dunk Contest (call me biased, but I preferred Castle’s natural dunks over all of McClung’s props), and he participated in the All-Star Game (Tournament?) itself as the Rising Stars winners were the fourth “team”.

With over 1,000 points, 250 rebounds, 250 assists and 70 steals for the season, Castle also joined some elite company with Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Cade Cunningham being last three rookie guards to post those numbers. All three of those players are All-Stars, and at least one of them is likely a future Hall of Famer.

The Spurs were reportedly very high on Castle before they drafted him, and he showed their faith was justified with solid two-way play, in-season improvement, and plenty of untapped potential — perhaps even more than anticipated. With the Spurs having a very good young core to work with, plus veteran additions like Harrison Barnes and De’Aaron Fox in tow, they should be back in playoff contention next season. The future certainly looks bright, and Castle is a big reason why.

Congrats, Steph!

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