NBA Awards are not created equal.

For example, last season Victor Wembanyama deservedly won Rookie of the Year. He continued to improve over the course of the year, was one of the league's best defenders by the end of the season, and had future superstar potential (or inevitability, really). That's the perfect case for Rookie of the Year.

Yet Chet Holmgren was also a "deserving" winner when compared to the annals of history. He was a fringe All-Star himself when you take his entire season into account, a versatile defender and floor-spacing offensive threat who was starting on a No. 1 seed. That performance would win the award in many years.

Brandon Miller was even an unusually strong third-place finisher, putting up 17.3 points per game and showing real star potential in his rookie season. If he had that same season as a rookie this year, he likely would have won Rookie of the Year.

To put it another way, if Stephon Castle had been a rookie last season, he likely would not have finished Top-3 in Rookie of the Year voting. This season, he won the award going away as no other rookies stepped up to the plate.

Stephon Castle is an immensely talented player. He is a heady defender, a smart mover without the basketball, a willing scorer and playmaker. He played extremely well down the stretch of the season to lock up the ROY award.

He also submitted one of the most damaging scoring seasons in recent memory last year, shooting only 42.8 percent from the field and 28.5 percent from deep. A Castle shot last year was a win for the defense. It's hard to give much real credit to Castle's 14.7 points per game when it took such frigid shooting to come to pass, before even accounting for the fact that his 14.7 points were the lowest average for a Rookie of the Year winner since Malcolm Brogdon in 2016-17.

Castle could turn into a star. Or he could turn in Brogdon -- that is, a solid starter for many years who was no one's idea of a max player. Given how utterly broken his shot has looked, it's very possible Castle is not on a star trajectory. That's a sentence most Spurs fans don't want to hear, but it's true.

If that is the case, Castle's value may never be higher than it is right now. The shine of Rookie of the Year may be elevating how other teams around the league view him, and he could be a valuable centerpiece of a trade package for another star.

That would be true in a vacuum, but it's even more true given the Spurs' draft situation. They landed the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and are in line to draft Drlan Harper, a rangy and versatile guard who is clearly a step above Castle as a prospect. Harper would have gone No. 1 with a bullet in the 2024 NBA Draft; Castle went fourth.

The Spurs will be hard-pressed to fit Harper, De'Aaron Fox and Castle all into the same backcourt given the shooting limitations of all three, and trying to do so will likely only lower Castle's value. Rather than use the No. 2 pick to try and land a star, or moving on from Fox suddenly, the best way to maximize their assets is to include Castle in a trade offer.

It's a painful reality, as Spurs fans seem to have embraced Castle and he has the mentality the franchise loves in its players. Unfortunately, he also has an inability to score efficently, and while that could improve, it's not a given. Trading him now before the bloom falls off the rose could net them a true co-star for Wembanyama.

If the Spurs draft Dylan Harper -- which they absolutely should do -- then their next step is finding the right trade package to build around Stephon Castle.