San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle has emerged as the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year, and the fourth pick believes he has all but locked up the annual award.
Castle is averaging 14.5 points, 3.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds on 42.4% shooting from the field in 77 games this season with the Spurs. He leads the rookie class in scoring and is one of four first-year players with multiple 30-point games.
The 20-year-old is currently minus-1600 to win Rookie of the Year, ahead of Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (plus-1000) and Washington Wizards center Alexandre Sarr (plus-1300). He has been the favorite since the All-Star break and believes he'll win.
"I feel like at this point, I pretty much got it locked up," Castle said on Sunday. "(I'm) really just continuing to be myself, not really think about it when I'm in the game. But game by game, I feel like I'm more confident to be able to say that I am (the Rookie of the Year)."
Castle, the MVP of the Rising Stars Game, is the only rookie with at least 1,000 points and is one of three in franchise history to also have 250 assists. The Spurs are looking to become the first team since Minnesota to have the Rookie of the Year in consecutive seasons (2015-2016).
The former UConn standout is the reigning Western Conference Rookie of the Month, joining David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Victor Wembanyama as the only Spurs players to win the award multiple times after earning the honor in January.
Castle has played an integral role with the Spurs this season and is emerging as the top first-year player. He has evolved as a player throughout the year and attributes his ascension to his increased confidence level on and off the court.
"I feel I've always played free and try not to overthink things," Castle said. "It is hard as a rookie to not but right now, (I'm) just flowing and trying to let the game come to me, trusting my teammates more than anything and getting confidence from their trust in me, as well."
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Spurs news: Stephon Castle calls shot in the Rookie of the Year race
