SAN ANTONIO – It’s not often that a team can have the rookie of the year two seasons in a row, but the San Antonio Spurs may have a shot at it.
Stephon Castle, the No. 4 overall pick last summer, has put together a solid rookie season and he’s peaking at the right time.
The 6-6 point guard has averaged 23.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the past six games. He’s shot 50.9 percent from the field in that stretch.
That’s elevated his season average to 13.5 points per game, which is the most among any rookie who is on track to play enough games to qualify for the rookie of the year honor.
“His athleticism, understanding how to play the game (and) he has one of the best mentors in Chris Paul,” Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd said. “You can see he has a rhythm, he’s starting to understand it and I would definitely think he’s one of the top rookies in the league if not No. 1.”
The Spurs had Victor Wembanyama last season and he was the unanimous rookie of the year.
Having back-to-back rookie of the year players is rare for a franchise, but not unprecedented.
In 2015, Andrew Wiggins was rookie of the year for Minnesota and the following season, Karl-Anthony Towns won it.
In 1973, Bob McAdoo won the award for the Buffalo Braves and Ernie DiGregorio won it the following year.
In 1968 and ’69, Earl Monroe and Wes Unseld won it back-to-back for the Baltimore Bullets.
Castle may or may not win it, but the fact that he’s in the conversation shows how far he’s come this season.
“One thing interesting about him is he’s probably been asked (to do) the widest range of responsibilities from his team in a decent-sized role,” Spurs’ acting coach Mitch Johnson said. “You’ve seen all the things 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.”
The other likely contenders for rookie of the year will be Zaccharie Risacher of Atlanta and Alex Sarr, the top two picks in the draft, respectively. Jaylen Wells of Memphis, taken in the second round with the 39th overall pick, could also see some support.
Castle on Monday came off the bench and finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds in 30 minutes.
Johnson said the most impressive thing to him about Castle, who helped UConn win the college championship last season, is that he has picked up the nuances of the game as the season has evolved.
“I think the role he’s progressed the most to is the acumen and the why of what’s going on,” Johnson said. “It’s all connected. At some point, young players that are extremely talented and they’re just playing, once they start connecting why or when or how I’m doing this rather than just making a play is very important in terms of impacting winning and I think he’s come a long way in that regard.”
Kidd happy for Chris Paul: The Mavericks’ coach slipped a notch on the all-time assists and steals lists this season.
Kidd was passed in both categories by Paul, who is in his first season with the San Antonio Spurs and his 20th in the NBA, earlier this season. Kidd had 2,684 steals in his career. Paul came into Monday night with 2,696.
Paul has 12,283 assists, surpassing Kidd’s 12,091. They are second and third on both lists, trailing John Stockton in both.
“I congratulated him,” Kidd said of Paul. “He’s had an incredible career. He’s a leader. He’s a winner. To be able to do that with the assists and the steals, I just told him to keep going and try to get Stockton, which is hard to do.
“Chris plays the game the right way. As he’s gotten older, I think he’s gotten better. He’s always going to be around the ball and he makes winning plays.”
Briefly: Jason Kidd serves on the Hall of Fame committee and said he recently got to see Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich during a meeting of that group. “He looked good, so hopefully he gets back here soon,” Kidd said. Popovich has been recovering from a stroke suffered before the season and the hope is he will resume coaching duties next season . . . The Mavericks have a baseball series of sorts with the Spurs. They will play against Wednesday night at Frost Bank Center. The Mavericks’ trip will conclude Friday in Houston.
X: @ESefko
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