One of the pleasures of being an NBA elitist is getting the chance to introduce fresh new faces to the broader basketball world, so let me be the first to report that Stephon Castle is pretty awesome. There was simply no way to know this about one of the best players on the best team in college basketball last season because the only true crucible is summer league—the purest version of the game, spared from distractions like order and game plan and on-court chemistry. We can see the truth of Castle’s game in a glorified AAU tournament and, better yet, the single game of a glorified AAU tournament, before Castle withdrew from competition in Vegas with a wrist injury.
But what a game it was. Even in the summer league slop, Castle is an engine for intuitive, winning plays, connecting dots that lesser prospects wouldn’t see and manifesting plays that lesser athletes couldn’t create. The questions about Castle’s shot and position are inevitable, but those are almost beside the point; what’s most striking about watching him play against quasi-pros is realizing how difficult it will be to take him off the floor in the earliest days of his career. Why would the Spurs deprive themselves of a guard who comes by impact plays so naturally? Throw Castle into the mix and see what he can turn up, whether by jamming opponents up at the point of attack or slicing his way through the defense. Toolsy, theoretical players are fun and all, but so are the dudes who make shit happen almost incidentally, as if it were an entire way of life. —Rob Mahoney
Pop also said similar thing himself : “He’s gonna be a quick study I think and get to play on the court quickly.”
I do think he has pretty good chance to start beside CP3, like what SGA did at OKC. It's not uncommon for Pop to bench a player of Harrison Barnes caliber and make him lead the bench too.
2 comments
Thanks for sharing. Stephon Castle reaffirms the belief (not mine, but an anonymous front office person) the Spurs need more passing than shooting. If he makes wide open threes at a reasonable rate, we will be a problem.
> I do think he has pretty good chance to start beside CP3, like what SGA did at OKC. It’s not uncommon for Pop to bench a player of Harrison Barnes caliber and make him lead the bench too.
I’m sure he’ll see plenty of minutes, I don’t think he’ll start though outside of injuries. Rookie ballhandlers usually struggle and the starting lineup is much more balanced with a reliable spacer like Barnes. Coming off the bench is less pressure and a good way to ease him into the NBA, and he’ll still get floor time with the core players.