Castle's vindication realized and Spurs knew it from the beginning

Stephon Castle had an awesome rookie year, and anyone who tries to argue otherwise should have their basketball card revoked. Don't acknowledge them. Last summer's number four overall pick came into the league as one of the most pro-ready prospects, and he showed that from the beginning as he attacked his matchups and big men at the rim, no matter who it was.

That's the first step in establishing yourself in the league: being fearless. He has fearlessness in spades, and Spurs fans watched him display it all year. It was clear to me that he was the Rookie of the Year for the majority of the season, but all throughout, analysts tried to find reasons to like other players more.

You can try to project how good Zaccharie Risacher or any other rookie will be all you want, but it doesn't take away from how good Steph was in reality this year. Now that the regular season is over, Castle is favored to win the award by far, and a Bleacher Report writer published a redraft of the 2024 NBA Draft, and this time, the former Husky was the number one pick.

Castle will be the best player from this draft going forward

Every draft has a best player, and quite frankly, often, it's not the number one overall pick. Michael Jordan wasn't the first overall pick, and Nikola Jokic wasn't even picked in the first round, but I think we know, unequivocally, that every general manager who passed up either one of these players regrets it and probably has trouble sleeping at night to this day.

Castle may not rise to the level of those two players, but he's certainly going to give the three GMs who passed him up nightmares (especially the Rockets—here's looking at you, Reed Sheppard). It's early for all of these guys, but you can see greatness in some players early.

BR's Dan Favale agrees and concluded his reasoning for choosing Steph number one overall by saying, "We'll invest the No. 1 pick in someone with a plausible path to stardom."

That's exactly right. When you watch the UConn champion play basketball, you see star potential. His demeanor tells you that he's serious about his craft, accountable to his teammates, and hungry to get better. His demonstrations on the court after big plays tell you how much he loves the game and loves to dominate his opponents.

It's what you want from your lottery picks. I'm always looking for players who have a bit of dog in them. They need to get after it all the time, and they must hate losing. All season, Castle let media members and fans alike know that he wasn't happy with good numbers when the team loses games.

He didn't even really acknowledge the Rookie of the Year race until he was sure he would win because it was inevitable at that point. He was only concerned about how his team was doing.

That's a leader, and that's the right kind of player for the Silver and Black. He'll end up as the third option on the Spurs next season, but nobody will be surprised if he elevates to the second. The nickname "Area 51" got popular for a reason, and it wasn't just because of Victor Wembanyama. Castle is special, and more people have come around to just how good he was this year.