Checking In With Former UConn Star Stephon Castle 37 Games Into Spurs Career

The No. 4 overall pick Castle should be considered the frontrunner for NBA Rookie of the Year
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The 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year trophy should be considered Stephon Castle’s to lose, but the race will likely be more complicated than that.

No rookie has been more impressive — and more productive — than the San Antonio Spurs’ No. 4 overall pick out of UConn, a fact that Castle reminded everyone of on Monday night with a 23-point performance in a win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on the road.

With Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain sidelined for the rest of the season with an injury, Castle should be the clear frontrunner in the ROTY race. As a new post from X account @statmuse pointed out on Monday night, “Only Jaylen Wells has more PTS as a rookie this season” than Castle.

But Castle’s impact goes far beyond scoring. He’s already a plus-defender of four NBA positions and has displayed high-level decision-making as a ball handler and initiator when the Spurs aren’t running through Chris Paul.

Then again, it behooves the NBA to promote as many candidates for postseasons awards as possible (for as long as possible). The league's latest “Kia Rookie Ladder” — which gauges candidates for Rookie of the Year — dropped Castle down to No. 5 last week after Castle held the top position for two weeks in December.

NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner — who published the ladder — cited Castle’s drop in minutes during January as reasoning for his slide to No. 5.

“Castle averaged 25.1 minutes, seventh most among rookies, through December,” Aschburner said.

“But playing off the bench, he has dipped to 19.9 in January. He still is getting up shots, though, second (14.5) behind only Zaccharie Risacher (15.1) per 36 minutes.”

It was a curious explanation given that January was only one week in at the time of the ladder’s publishing.

Here are the four players that were positioned ahead of Castle on the aforementioned ladder:

  1. Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards (11.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.6 bpg)
  2. Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans (9.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg)
  3. Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies (11.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.7 apg)
  4. Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies (10.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg)

The above stats may look comparable to Castle’s 11.0 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game, but as noted by StatMuse, only Wells has actually scored more total points than Castle among rookies.

There’s also the fact that Castle’s Spurs are competitive and playoff-worthy, something that Sarr and Missi lack (but Wells and Edey notably have going for them).

Ultimately, Castle should be proud of his season thus far, Rookie of the Year candidacy notwithstanding.

Through 37 games, Castle is averaging 15.9 points and 5.2 assists per 36 minutes, and he’s become the second-best asset on the Spurs at just 20 years old.

More NCAA: Ranking The Top-10 Greatest UConn Huskies Men's Basketball Players


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Colin Keane
COLIN KEANE

Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org