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SAN ANTONIO — Exactly one year ago this weekend, Stephon Castle was preparing for his star turn for the Connecticut Huskies in the 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four in Glendale, Ariz. When this year’s Final Four begins Saturday night at The Alamodome, in the Alamo City, Castle already will have boarded a flight to Portland with his San Antonio Spurs teammates, utterly indifferent to the goings-on in his new home base. Advertisement “Once UConn lost, I stopped paying attention,” Castle said after a recent Spurs game at Frost Bank Center, a short drive east from the site of this year’s Final Four venue in downtown San Antonio.
Castle was sad to see the Huskies’ 77-75 loss to Florida in the second round of the tournament, which ended their three-peat bid, but hardly heartbroken. “I got my ring,” the 20-year-old said, loud enough for teammate and former Baylor Bear Jeremy Sochan to glance in his direction. “I’m good, as long as Baylor doesn’t win.
” In all likelihood, there is more hardware in Castle’s future. He is the clear leader in the race for the Wilt Chamberlain Trophy, presented annually to the NBA’s top rookie. With a little more than a week remaining in the regular season, the combo guard leads all rookies in points scored (1,070), steals (69), 20-point games (22) and assists (287).
Since returning from a busy All-Star Weekend, where he participated in three events, Castle has averaged 16 points per game, lifting his season average to 14.3. Over the 23 games since the break, he has nine games of at least 20 points and a 32-point output against the Oklahoma City Thunder, his season high.
No rookie has come closer to a triple-double this season than Castle did on Wednesday, when he tallied 15 points,15 rebounds and nine assists in a 113-106 road win over the Denver Nuggets. Playing more at point guard since De’Aaron Fox underwent season-ending finger surgery on March 18, Castle also has improved as an offensive instigator. On March 21, he handed out 14 assists in a 128-120 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the most by any rookie this season and matching 39-year-old teammate Chris Paul’s top assist game this season.
“Just fun to play, playing free,” Castle said to explain his assists outburst. “I feel like that just came from really learning my teammates all season, just really putting it together.” Advertisement Hall of Fame Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, long before he suffered a mild stroke Nov.
2, assigned Castle a locker right next to that of Paul, the “Point God” the Spurs signed to a one-year deal last summer. Such immediate proximity has helped Castle adapt to the NBA game, just as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander benefited from Paul’s presence when they were teammates in Oklahoma City during the 2019-20 season. Paul has been in Castle’s ear all season.
That the rookie’s assist game has improved as the season progressed is hardly a surprise. On Monday, Castle was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for the second time, joining a select group of Spurs rookies to have done so: David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Victor Wembanyama, all of whom became Rookie of the Year. Castle’s competition for this season’s honor seems to be Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher.
The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, selected three spots ahead of Castle, also has come to life of late. He has five games of 20 or more points in Atlanta’s last 20 games, including a 36-point gem March 30 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
He nabbed his first Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honor on Monday. Naturally, the Spurs believe Castle deserves to be the team’s second consecutive Rookie of the Year. “Has it even been a question?” Sochan said of Castle’s ascendancy in the race for the award.
“There’s no one out there on the ‘ladder,’ or even in his class that should get it, so I think it’s his for sure.” Acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, who took over after Popovich’s stroke, believes there are intangible reasons that speak volumes about why Castle’s season has been the best of this season’s rookies. “The thing about Steph that sticks out to me, respectfully to all the other rookies, is (that) I don’t know that there’s anybody who has been asked to do the variety of roles and responsibilities, and the way he’s handled it,” Johnson said.
“That he’s been able to achieve enough to be honored as Rookie of the Month more than once says a lot.” Advertisement Johnson moved Castle into the starting lineup after Sochan suffered a broken left thumb Nov. 4 against the LA Clippers.
The rookie started 17 games before Sochan returned, then went back to the bench. That 17-game stretch is his longest as a starter, but he is on a streak of 12 straight starts that seems certain to run through the team’s final six games. If so, Castle will finish with 47 starts in 81 games played.
“A lot of rookies, you come in and learn by watching, or you come in beside one or two, multiple guys,” Johnson said. “Very few rookies come into the league and are asked to be the guy or one of the main guys. He’s been asked to do all that.
He’s been asked to play alongside guys; he’s been asked to play off the bench; he’s been asked to start; he’s been asked at times to be one of the main guys. “To be able to navigate all of that with success is probably something that doesn’t show on the surface. It’s hard to see unless you pull back the layers a little bit.
His demeanor allows him to play through the highs and the lows, which this league hits you with both. To continue to stay even-keeled and know water finds its level, it’s hard to do.” Castle’s offensive surge since All-Star Weekend may be the deciding factor for Rookie of the Year voters, but the Spurs believe his defensive prowess remains his greatest asset.
It was what most impressed the team’s scouts as they watched him before he got to UConn and during his one season with the Huskies. If there was a single tournament game that solidified his spot near the top of San Antonio’s draft list, it likely was UConn’s Elite Eight game against Illinois. Castle shut down the Illini’s top scorer, Terrence Shannon Jr.
, a 23-year-old who came into the game averaging 23 points. He limited Shannon to eight points on 2-of-12 shooting as the Huskies earned a 77-52 win. Castle’s rookie season defensive assignments typically put him on the opponent’s top perimeter scorer.
Among those he has defended are Gilgeous-Alexander, Stephen Curry, Luka Dončić, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown, Coby White, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Tyrese Halliburton. Rookie of the Year voters inclined to bypass a No. 1 vote for Castle may rationalize such a decision by citing his below-average shooting percentages.
After going 6 of 18 in his near-triple-double in Denver, he is at 42.3 percent overall, 28.7 percent from beyond the arc and 71.
6 percent from the foul line. Advertisement Most of Castle’s scoring comes off aggressive drives to the rim. His midrange shots are few and far between, but he has attempted 307 3-pointers with 88 makes.
Despite Castle’s ugly percentage from deep, Johnson and those in the Spurs’ basketball operations department understand the importance of Castle’s continuing to attempt them. No doubt they recall UConn’s national semifinal game, in which Alabama left Castle nearly unguarded at the 3-point line. He attempted six shots from deep and made two on his way to scoring 21.
While improving his accuracy from the midrange and deep will be an offseason goal for Castle, Johnson believes the rookie’s next steps will come naturally. “The No. 1 thing you ask of every young player is to continue to focus on improving their habits because no one at 19 or 20, in any aspect of life, is a done product,” said Johnson, a four-year starter at point guard at Stanford from 2005-09.
“That bleeds into the fundamentals, and then the overarching thing that happens with the fundamentals is consistency.” Johnson is certain Castle’s already proven work ethic eventually will produce consistency in all aspects of his game, including shooting. Castle isn’t comfortable talking about his individual accomplishments this season, but he knows the numbers don’t lie.
Asked recently to comment on having more than twice as many games (22) of 20-plus points than anyone else from his rookie class, he acknowledged his own successes and showed that he understands what Johnson and the rest of the Spurs basketball brain trust expect from him going forward. “I feel like a lot of that comes from my teammates setting me up, being in good positions, getting me the ball in the right spots,” he said. “My ability to stop fast has also helped me get to the free-throw line, get easier buckets.
“But, just reflecting on the year, I feel like it’s been a good year. It could have been better. I mean, going into right now and next year, something I want to just continue to get better on is just efficiency, just stuff like that.
” That’s what basketball experts call the right stuff. (Photo: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images).
