Stephon Castle's Spurs teammates sound off on 'definite' Rookie of the Year chances
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As San Antonio Spurs star rookie Stephon Castle continues to impress the NBA world, he’s making even more of an impression on those closest to him. The 20-year-old rookie from UConn has emerged as the clear front runner for the league’s Rookie of the Year. To those on his team, he’s becoming synonymous with the award.
“I feel like he’s definitely Rookie of the Year,” Devin Vassell says.
Devin Vassell on Stephon Castle…
"I think we all maybe had an expectation coming into this season and he's blown that out of the water…
We're just getting the beginning of what Steph can truly be, which is actually very scary."Full thought #Spurs#GoSpursGo#PorVidapic.twitter.com/HqO1uCG0p7
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) March 13, 2025
“Yes,” is how acting head coach Mitch Johnson started his answer when asked if Castle’s season is ROY worthy.
“I’m biased, obviously, but I think that it’s pretty easy, Vassell added.
Heading into the second of back-to-back games vs. the Dallas Mavericks in mid-March, Castle was averaging 22 points, nearly five rebounds and five assists per game in the month.
Stephon Castle continues to impress teammates
Castle’s recent play has also served as a bit of a resurgence. Back-to-back games at the New Orleans Pelicans saw him score six points combined in the two losses. The Spurs capped a four-game stretch in which the 6-foot-5 standout failed to reach his season scoring average in any of those outings. At 13.4 points per contest into mid-March, the NCAA national champion from a year ago has poured in 22, 24, a near career-high 32, 25 and 20 in five of the eight games since late February.
“His potential; it’s out of this world,” Vassell said. “There’s no limit for him. What he’s doing right now, the games that he’s had – whether it’s been scoring, whether it’s been defense, whether it’s, we’ll match him up on the team’s best player and he’ll still get 20 and whatever he gets. He just shows that he’s bought in. He’s asking a lot of questions, whether it’s to his teammates, to his coaches if he doesn’t understand stuff.”
His head coach for most of this season echoes Vassell’s sentiments on Castle.
“I think the one thing that’s interesting about him is he’s probably been asked the widest range of responsibilities from his team in a decent-sized role,” Johnson said. “If you’ve seen all the things that he’s been asked to do in terms of defense, offense, on the ball, off the ball, off the bench, as a starter, I don’t know if anybody’s been asked to have such a wide range of roles and he’s ticked the box on all of them at times. That may be the most impressive thing other than the just the sheer volume of production.”
Johnson took over after Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke five games into Castle’s NBA career. It’s a career that started as their fourth overall pick this past summer.
“I think we all had an expectation coming into this season and he’s blown that out of the water,” Vassell revealed.
A Castle Rookie of the Year nod would give the Spurs a second straight such winner following Victor Wembanyama. He’d become the fourth in franchise history, though the first not named David Robinson, Tim Duncan or Wemby.
While no one will put that kind of expectation on Castle just yet, Vassell is sharing what so many are thinking.
“We’re just getting to the beginning of what Steph can truly be, which is actually very scary.”
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