Stephon Castle figures to be an important member of the Spurs moving forward.
The 2024-25 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year winner was announced Tuesday with Spurs guard Stephon Castle taking home the award. This is the second straight season that a member of the Spurs was named Rookie of the Year after Victor Wembanyama won the honor last season. David Robinson and Tim Duncan are the only other Spurs players to win the award.
Season Recap
The Spurs selected Castle with the fourth pick in the 2024 Draft. He began the season coming off the bench, averaging 20 minutes over his first seven games. Castle bounced in and out of the starting lineup for much of the season and finished having started 47 of the 81 games that he appeared in.
Castle finished the season with averages of 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 3-pointers per game. As a starter, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.5 3-pointers. He logged 30 minutes per game as a starter, compared to 22 minutes per game when he came off the bench.
The Spurs made a big splash leading up to the trade deadline, acquiring De’Aaron Fox from the Kings. He and Wembanyama are now the cornerstones of the franchise. We didn’t get to see much of Fox and Wembanyama on the floor together as Fox saw his season cut short because of a finger injury. Wembanyama appeared in just 46 games because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
Castle started the final 18 games for the Spurs after Fox was ruled out for the season. Over those 18 games, Castle averaged 19.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.3 3-pointers. He averaged 31 minutes and 14.9 shot attempts per game during that span. Both were significant increases over his season marks of 27 minutes and 12.2 shot attempts per game.
2025-26 Fantasy Outlook
Castle figures to be an important member of the Spurs moving forward. He has the potential to enter next season as their starting shooting guard alongside Fox. However, if Fox and Wembanyama are healthy, it will be difficult for Castle to maintain the usage rate that he had down the stretch. In terms of his fantasy value, Castle is likely someone to target towards the end of drafts to provide roster depth, rather than someone who should be drafted to start in 10 or 12-team leagues.
