Stephon Castle named Western Conference Rookie of the Month

Stephon Castle is on the rise and it’s only the beginning

Stephon Castle was honored with his first Western Conference Rookie of the Month award, beating out Isaiah Collier, Ryan Dunn, and Jaylen Wells, per NBA Communications. He averaged 14.9 points on a 51.9 true shooting percentage, with 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists, but his impact felt greater than that.

Keep in mind, there are not 15 players in the NBA scoring 15 points per game and guarding the other team‘s best player, which is what Castle is doing. Furthermore, getting over all those screens at the point of attack buys Victor Wembanyama an extra second to get into position. He may not get the flashy blocks on the stat sheet, but his work is just as important and is the hardest to do on defense.

Castle has played so well that coach Mitch Johnson should keep him in the starting lineup to cover De’Aaron Fox, the newly acquired Spur’s, defensive weaknesses. Castle has been a mainstay there since Jan. 8 and at the rate he is progressing and his ability to handle the task, it would do him a disservice to move him to the bench because there isn’t a player undoubtedly better than him for the job.

In January, 45 percent of his attempts were taken fewer than five feet away from the rim, and he made 59.4 percent of those shots. He excels in this area because he moves well without the ball and is strong enough to take a bump from defenders when dribbling. His 3-point percentage was abysmal (28.8) on over four attempts per game, but he should follow Wembanyama’s example and keep hoisting them up without fear. The secret sauce that Chip Engelland left behind will eventually turn him into an outside option, but it will require time. Don’t forget, a year ago, Wembanyama was taking a lot of heat from critics, me included, for shooting too many threes and it paid off for him.

On top of that, he showed good playmaking skills in the month, specifically on drive-and-kick plays to shooters and feeds on the break. His connection with Wembanyama is only making Area 51 stronger, too. They showed enough flashes together in January that’s easy to envision them becoming one of the NBA’s top combinations.

Castle is versatile on both sides and after an adjustment, incorporating Fox in the lineup, he should be able to maintain his January numbers, which means this will not be his last Rookie of the Month prize.