De'Aaron Fox out for season announcement guarantees accurate preseason prediction

Hopefully, the near triple-double that De'Aaron Fox posted in the March 12 home game against the Mavericks was enough to satiate the appetite of Spurs fans everywhere because that's all we're going to get of him for the rest of the season. San Antonio has announced that the recently acquired point guard will miss the remainder of the campaign to have surgery on his dislocated pinky finger.

We all knew this was coming, but the announcement is slightly earlier than expected. Fox recently spoke about the impending decision and named March 17 as possibly the date he'd reach a conclusion on which direction to take. Ultimately, it's the right choice as the Silver and Black had nothing left to fight for other than pride after Victor Wembanyama's unfortunate health scare.

With a month left in the season, the Spurs will undoubtedly lose the majority of their games, leading to more favorable odds in the draft lottery. But there will be one more ripple effect that fans can get behind as the season winds to a close.

Stephon Castle will easily win Rookie of the Year

Before any games were played, preseason odds were distributed for this year's NBA awards. Stephon Castle came in tied for fifth in Rookie of the Year odds. I was taken aback by the revelation that he wasn't at least in the top three.

The UConn champion was touted as one of the most pro-ready prospects in the draft. The fact that he was about to play next to Victor Wembanyama meant that he would get the necessary attention, and the addition of Chris Paul meant that the rookie would have the perfect mentor to help cultivate good habits.

His path to the award was always a little unconventional since he wasn't expected to start most of the season, but with a team as devoid of talent as the San Antonio, it was obvious that he'd receive plenty of playing time.

We predicted in July that he would win the Rookie of the Year award. With Wemby out and now Fox sidelined, there is nobody to stand in his way on his journey to such an honor. Castle's usage will likely increase. He already leads all rookies in points scored this season by a seismic gap that will only widen.

Steph has been on top of the Kia NBA Rookie Ladder every week since January 29. There are only four weeks left in the regular season, so the chances of him letting the award slip from his fingers are slim to none. Just go ahead and put his name on it now and congratulate the Spurs for housing back-to-back ROY winners for the first time in a decade and the second time since the 1976-77 merger.