San Antonio goalkeeper Stephon Castle was appointed recruit of the year of the NBA on Tuesday, joining Victor Wembanyama as the second consecutive player of the Spurs to win the award.
Castle won the prize massively against the star of Atlanta Hawks, Zaccharie Risacher, who was the n ° 1 choice at last summer, and the recruit of Memphis Grizzlies, Jaylen Wells. He earned 482 points in total, compared to the 245 that Risacher received. Wells finished third with 123 points. Alex Sarr de Washington finished fourth, and the great man of the Grizzlies, Zach Edey, arrived fifth.
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Castle joined the Spurs as a choice n ° 4 in the 2024 draft after a single season outside competition in Uconn in which he helped the Huskies to a second consecutive NCAA championship in the first year.
Playing in a team of Spurs with the veteran Chris Paul at the leader, Castle started his recruit season that comes out of the bench. He finally obtained a part -time place in the starting formation which evolved towards a full -time role in the rear area playing alongside Paul for the last month of the season after the finger injury of the De'Aaron Fox season.
In 81 games, including 47 departures, Castle has an average of 14.7 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 interceptions per game while firing 42.8% on the field and 28.5% at 3 points.
Castle wins the recruit of the year from a relatively bottom recruits class which has not offered many challengers for the price. Risacher (n ° 1 in total, Hawks) and Sarr (n ° 2 overall, Wizards) were written in projects, and each sought the part of their respective recruit campaigns.
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Risacher, an attacker of 6-8, recorded on average 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while pulling 45.8% in the field and 35.5% at 3 points. Sarr, a 7 -foot center, flashed in two directions as the season progressed but struggled with its effectiveness. He collected on average 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 blocks per game while pulling 39.4% on the field and 30.8% out of 5.1 attempts of 3 points per game.
Reed Sheppard, meanwhile, had a hard time finding playing time in the rotation of IME Udoka rockets after being selected n ° 3 in total by Houston. He only played 12.6 minutes per match in 52 appearances, with an average of 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists while pulling 35.1% of the 33.8% floor on 3. A choice of popular pre-season to compete for the recruit of the year, the Sheppard campaign was brought before it takes off.
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In the end, Castle offered the most coherent and productive recruit campaign, even though he fought with efficiency. It was effective at both ends of the soil and The best scope weapons of the opposing team regularly.
Alongside Wembanyama and Fox, Castle projects an integral part of the promising heart of San Antonio in the future. With the lottery spurs, they will have the opportunity to add another talented young player in the draft of the June NBA.
