Stephon Castle - 2024 NBA Draft Prospect

[BatManu20]

just in awesome…

wemby will be wide in open near the basket just begging for a lob

sochan will refuse to make the lob and pass to a double-teamed castle

castle will brick the shot

just in great!

You're right. We should just draft Dalton Knecht at 4 and call it a day.

[Knoxxx]

For the PG prospects:

1 Castle
2 Sheppard
3 Dilly
4 Topic
5 Booker
6 Carter

And i know some of you sneaky buggers have some targets at 35, 48, or somewhere later in the first round with a trade down, etc.

Salary cap management is going to be an issue. Best to bring in several rookies a year and keep turning them over until we get it right. Play lots of players, diliute their stats so they don't become too expensive to keep. You are welcome for crystallizing the master plan that was so obvious you could almost see it.

[Knoxxx]

You're right. We should just draft Dalton Knecht at 4 and call it a day.

Shaddup he's a statue on defense!

[Knoxxx]

Elite players rarely come onto the open market, trade or FA. When they’re traded, they pick the team. Even if one came on the market, 4&8 in this draft ain’t getting that done.

People are giving at least 3 FRPs and their first born for a decent player who makes $45 million a year while averaging 15 PPG. These fools want to trade nothing for someone and keep all our picks too!

[Mr. Body]

I just want to say Knecht means knight in German. So with Castle we could have some medieval thing going.

[Chinook]

I just want to say Knecht means knight in German. So with Castle we could have some medieval thing going.

Well given that they're a couple of rooks, I figured it was more of a chess thing.

[SpursBills]

Serious question for folks that really want Castle, what kind of player do you expect from him?

I want Risacher but because I expect a Nicolas Batum type player. I'm not really expecting an all-star type player. For Castle to be worth the pick, I think he would need to become a borderline all-star player (a Jrue Holiday type) and I just don't see it, tbh.

Some hybrid between Jalen Suggs and Marcus Smart as his 75 percentile outcome. I think he's not very high in stat based models because of mainly his shooting efficiency obviously, but also his low steal rate. But Hurley's defenses depress steal rates big time, Castle averaged 3 ST and 2 BL per game as a high school senior so it's not like he can't generate defensive events. Normalize his ST% this year against by comparing Cam spencer's STL% last year at Rutgers vs this year and he ends up with almost a 3 STL%, which is way more palatable. Also UConn's defense with Castle and without Clingan was about the same as its defense with Clingan without Castle, so it's not like he's just riding Clingan's coattails on defense. Plus the guy's built like he's going to be SGA kryptonite so he's got that going for him.

Dude knows how to play, he's got better bball IQ than most freshmen and he's a good decision maker, which gives him a way higher floor than most non-shooting prospects. I like him less than Wallace from last year but more than Black, mostly because of his off-ball ability; I think he'd be able to fit into a Wemby motion offense better than Black. If you're going to take a bet on a non-shooting prospect, it's this guy who's a lot less raw in every other aspect of the game.

[Payote75]

Correct and no need to talk down simply having a spurs conversation....and I'm talking about time and striking while iron is hot and getting hotter players are starting to want to join up. Everyone knows upside but it's time we are fighting why would I want to even waste one season with Wemby. Get him some players and some playoff experience.

[heyheymymy]

Castle is my pick at #4 barring Risacher or maybe Sarr.

Cool thing with Castle is Spurs fans talk about taking a SF and a PG but with Castle being wing ish size while also saying he wants to play PG you can take him at #4 and then take whomever you want with #8 because wing or guard Castle flexes both so either way you got your PG & SF in a sense lol

[Payote75]

Yea that's exactly what I was thinking amazing let's all just agree with your take

[BatManu20]

Shaddup he's a statue on defense!

Was being sarcastic...

[Knoxxx]

Castle is my pick at #4 barring Risacher or maybe Sarr.

Cool thing with Castle is Spurs fans talk about taking a SF and a PG but with Castle being wing ish size while also saying he wants to play PG you can take him at #4 and then take whomever you want with #8 because wing or guard Castle flexes both so either way you got your PG & SF in a sense lol

Genius! i never thought about considering pick 8 in relation to pick 4.

[Raven]

He can possibly guard SGA, Doncic, Fox on the Kings, any smaller G up to a SF. Do you know what the 1-3 position is in basketball? Sochan can guard the 2, but that's not his specialty.

As far as your take on alternative PG prospects, way off. All the other PG prospects have their share of warts such as lack of size, defense, shooting, injuries, etc.

If Castle went 3, Sheppard would be fine at 4 though. Then we'd have some nice wing options, leaning to the defensive side, at 8.

yes, doncic is far longer, he's not going to defend him.

[Raven]

I guess we'll see how things go in the finals matchup.
On paper, Celtics are a perfect counter to Kyrie and Luka. Two elite defenders for each of them.

In three years Wemby will surely be the best player in the league and then it will be on everyone else to adapt.

?

[Knoxxx]

yes, doncic is far longer, he's not going to defend him.

And who, pray tell, can guard the donkey at all then?!

I think the strategy is throw competent fresh defenders on him all game, so that when the time comes to hit a clutch shot he's running out of gas. Make more sense? I haven't seen the perfect defender for him, that's why he averages 34-9-9. Maybe we can try putting Wemby on him. I dare him try to guard Wemby in the post the same way he was punking Gobert, OMG.

[LeBowen]

?

Jrue and Derrick for Kyrie.
Brown and Tatum for Luka.
I guess Tatum is weakest of the four, but still a very good defender.

[Raven]

And who, pray tell, can guard the donkey at all then?!

I think the strategy is throw competent fresh defenders on him all game, so that when the time comes to hit a clutch shot he's running out of gas. Make more sense? I haven't seen the perfect defender for him, that's why he averages 34-9-9. Maybe we can try putting Wemby on him. I dare him try to guard Wemby in the post the same way he was punking Gobert, OMG.

antetokumpo, kawhi... guys like that. You need a really long armed, athletic sf that doesn't make stupid fouls. That's the blueprint.

[Raven]

Jrue and Derrick for Kyrie.
Brown and Tatum for Luka.
I guess Tatum is weakest of the four, but still a very good defender.

tatum has been getting scorched all playoffs and he has no chance to defend donut. Donut is going to feast 42 per game without problem.. only chance is porzingis coming from the weak side to make donut pass, but quite farfetched. They are prepared for irving, that i agree.

[Raven]

Is there a formula on how to defend Doncic? If so, it must be secret from every NBA team so far. As far as I can tell, the only plan with Doncic is to not foul and to stay with him. That's staying in front of his when he has the ball and staying connected to him when he doesn't. Shutting a guy down is extremely rare and has been for more than a decade. Bowen basically never did it. The Medium Three Spurs only did it rarely. What the Spurs can do is kill possessions by denying Doncic the ball and letting Irving go at Sochan and the rest of the team. Castle's ability to both navigate screens and absorb contact is rare. Of course, you'd want to buy into his offensive game working if you take him at 4. But I wouldn't say he has worse potential there than Smart did, and he was also taken in the top five.

even dillingam can make donut pass the ball if it's on a double.. perhaps only marco belinelli wouldn't make him pass, he just does it automatically... That's not saying much imo.

[TD 21]

Some hybrid between Jalen Suggs and Marcus Smart as his 75 percentile outcome. I think he's not very high in stat based models because of mainly his shooting efficiency obviously, but also his low steal rate. But Hurley's defenses depress steal rates big time, Castle averaged 3 ST and 2 BL per game as a high school senior so it's not like he can't generate defensive events. Normalize his ST% this year against by comparing Cam spencer's STL% last year at Rutgers vs this year and he ends up with almost a 3 STL%, which is way more palatable. Also UConn's defense with Castle and without Clingan was about the same as its defense with Clingan without Castle, so it's not like he's just riding Clingan's coattails on defense. Plus the guy's built like he's going to be SGA kryptonite so he's got that going for him.

Dude knows how to play, he's got better bball IQ than most freshmen and he's a good decision maker, which gives him a way higher floor than most non-shooting prospects. I like him less than Wallace from last year but more than Black, mostly because of his off-ball ability; I think he'd be able to fit into a Wemby motion offense better than Black. If you're going to take a bet on a non-shooting prospect, it's this guy who's a lot less raw in every other aspect of the game.

Despite not being your cup of tea, I respect your knowledge, but I've heard this spiel so many times about this archetype. They're almost always described in similar fashion and almost always bust.

Even most of the ones who succeed don't do so as lead guards and become bit players in the playoffs (Daniels looks to be this in the making).

For every Smart, Suggs and (Amen) Thompson (all better prospects, the former a better play maker, the latter two way more athletic), there's Winslow (even though he was listed as a forward), Exum, Ntilikina, Culver, Daniels, Black (too soon) and to a lesser extent (more true PG's) Payton, Mudiay, Dunn, Hayes.

[rascal]

Spurs are going to need to add some backcourt defense, a player with good size and enough strenght and athleticism, Castle fills that need on the roster in this draft.

What are you going to do, add a couple of undersized shooters in this weak draft , neglect the defensive side of the game and draft a defensive player next year while leaving all star offensive players much better than what you'll get this year on the board.

Next year the Spurs can target high upside offensive players wih all star potential who will be much better than anyone in this year's draft on the offensive side.

Fill the defensive need this year and round out the roster in next year's draft with higher upside players.

[DAF86]

Yeah, but then the anthro is no contest, with Castle overwhelming him. You compared him to Black because they are a similar physical type, but when your statement about Black being a clear better prospect got steamrolled, you tried the old goalpost move.

No, my comment was about Black being way more hyped as a prospect than Castle, which is undeniable true. Had a much bigger role, scored more pts, had more assists, more blocks, more steals, more rebounds, was more efficient, and just overall was seen as a better player

[Pauleta14]

Elite players rarely come onto the open market, trade or FA. When they’re traded, they pick the team. Even if one came on the market, 4&8 in this draft ain’t getting that done.

- Spurs are attractive again

- I meant 4&8 PLUS players

I'd add a financial aspect considering the garanteed HIGH salaries of both picks for 3 years.

Considering the value of 25' and 26' I think it's worth passing on this one to focus on the team's lack of experience and low BBIQ that draft can't fix.

We'll see but it'd make a lot of sense to me.

[DAF86]

I like Castle's upside. His current floor would still provide an improvement. His shooting is a concern. If they pick Castle, have to be curious what if any moves they make with the current roster to create spacing on the floor.

His current floor isn't an improvement over anyone, tbh.

[rascal]

His current floor isn't an improvement over anyone, tbh.

Forget about it DAF.

Spurs are drafting Castle or Topic at 4.