Stephon Castle is already one of the best defenders in the NBA, and his offensive game is coming along nicely. However, it's not without flaw, and the Spurs will have to endure some ugly play if they want to get the best version of him.
In his second season, San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle took the leap from one of the best young players in the NBA to one of the best players in the NBA, period. He emerged as an All-Defensive-caliber guy (he was robbed!) and was one of the better scorers on a playoff team.
Last season, he posted 16.7 points, 7.4 assists, and 1.1 steals. Turnovers and 3-point shooting were problems, although he improved in both areas as the season went on. If he can become a league-average 3-point shooter, expect him to make the All-Star Game.
Between Castle, Dylan Harper, and De'Aaron Fox, the Spurs have no shortage of star guard talent. Castle has a long way to go before he's a superstar, but there's a very real path for him to get there.
Spurs Will Continue to Invest in Stephon Castle
Last season, Fox started the season with an injury and missed the first eight games. Castle was given the keys to the offense as the lone ball-handler in the starting lineup and made the most of his minutes.
In that span, he averaged 18.8 points and 6.6 dimes. Not bad for a second-year player! He also posted five turnovers per game, though, which wasn't a trend he was able to buck. Still, though, that improvement is promising, and he's just getting started.
"I expect Castle to get better again," said Jared Weiss on The Athletic NBA Daily. "He improved so much in year two, I expect him to improve a lot in year three. His big focus in his offseason workouts has been his pull-up shooting. And he had improvement over the second half of the season."
There will be stretches next season where Castle makes bad reads and can buy a bucket. For the most part, though, he's expected to be one of the best players on a title frontrunner. The Spurs will have to live with the mistakes.
It should be worth it. Some other all-time greats had similar struggles.
"He's already one of the best offenders in the game," Weiss added. "He's already a top-10 perimeter defender. His playmaking is pretty good. And I know he had that 20-turnover stretch there. You know, the guy who had the record was James Harden, and James Harden is one of the best point guards of all time. You gotta crack a few eggs and make an omelet."
