The Spurs Made the Right Decisions to Draft Stephon Castle, Trade No. 8
Stephon Castle got picked by the Spurs in the lottery (Photo via Twitter)
Armed with the No. 4 and No. 8 selections in the 2024 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs ended up making quite a bit of noise. At No. 4, the Spurs took Stephon Castle, the defensive dynamo out of UConn. At No. 8, the Spurs drafted Robert Dillingham — only to promptly trade him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for an unprotected first round pick and a pick swap.
1) I like the Castle pick. He was clearly the best player left on the board. In all ways but one, he’s going to be a great fit in San Antonio.
Offensively, Castle is a really good passer. He’s particularly good at finding bigger teammates in the lane. By the end of his rookie season, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the best passer to Victor Wembanyama on the team. Castle also drives with ferocity; his moves near the basket are powerful and effective.
Defensively, he’s just damn good. He’s an aggressive yet smart point of attack defender. Off the ball, he’s attentive. His rotations are timely and his high basketball IQ shines brightest in those circumstances.
Castle should be able to lead San Antonio back to being a quality defensive ballclub. He doesn’t back down from anyone, he’s willing to get his hands dirty and he competes as hard as he possibly can.
With the drafting of Castle, the days of opponents looking at a Spurs matchup as an opportunity to set a new career-high should be over.
2) The one way Castle isn’t a fit: he’s not a three-point shooter. He shot sub-30% at UConn from three-point range and was equally bad during other stops in his basketball journey.
The good news is that Castle’s stroke looks okay. His free throws look smooth. It looks like a fixable situation.
That said, it’s scary how much rides on Castle’s shot improving. If he can’t shoot, he might not even be a long-term starter. If he can shoot, Castle could be a star.
3) Once the Spurs landed the No. 4 pick, Castle became the most obvious option. He’s a high character kid who cheers on his teammates. He has a reputation for working hard. A five-star recruit, he opted to go to UConn to try to win while getting coached hard. All of that makes him a very Spurs-like pick.
Oh, and part of the destiny has to be the fact that Castle’s dad was Tim Duncan’s college teammate at Wake Forest.
4) Give San Antonio credit for a successful smokescreen. After Castle held a workout with Devin Carter, Spurs staffers went out of their way to hype up Carter’s workout. Meanwhile, the same staffers wouldn’t say a word about Castle. That ploy had the desired result because it caused teams to think the Spurs could pick Carter at No. 8 and caused uncertainty with Castle’s stock.
5) Since getting drafted, Castle has softened his stance on being a point guard. Was Castle in on trying to get himself to San Antonio? It’s possible. Those point guard demands seemed to turn off a lot of teams.
Now that he’s been drafted, Castle is talking about playing off the ball as well.
6) I don’t think Castle will be a full-time point guard. It’s possible but it has to be considered a long shot. I like him a lot better as a secondary playmaker. He’ll be really good in that role.
Summer league should be interesting. The best use of those games would probably be to have Castle run point guard to see where he is in the developmental process.
7) Having Castle along with Tre Jones and Jeremy Sochan in the starting lineup can’t work. That’s too many bricks in a confined space.
Either Castle will need to come off the bench at first or the Spurs need to replace Jones in the starting lineup with a point guard who can shoot the ball. I like the second option better.
8) Moving on to No. 8, that was a torturous few seconds for Spurs fans. First, the fans thought they had Robert Dillingham, the most exciting player in the draft. Seconds later, we learned he was being moved to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Robert Dillingham Spurs Era will be one discussed quite a bit if he turns out to be a good player for the Timberwolves.
9) In the trade, the Spurs got an unprotected first round pick from the Wolves in 2031 and a first round pick swap (protected for the first overall pick) in 2030.
I’m probably in the minority of Spurs fans but I think that’s a great haul. An unprotected first round pick and a lightly protected pick swap? That’s two more impressive pieces to add to the franchise’s draft arsenal.
The Oklahoma City Thunder traded three lottery protected first round picks for the No. 11 pick in 2022. The Houston Rockets traded two lottery protected first round picks for No. 16 in 2021.
In comparison, the Spurs got an awesome return for this being a weak draft. Lottery protected picks aren’t especially valuable on the open market, while unprotected first round picks are the gold standard.
When stars are put on the trading block, teams typically want unprotected picks in return. That’s the currency in today’s NBA when going star hunting. Getting another one is a big deal for the Spurs.
I understand the frustration of trading away the No. 8 pick but this trade offered by the Timberwolves was close to a no-brainer. This is an eat-your-vegetables moment. At some point in the future, the Spurs will be very glad they have these draft assets at their disposal.
10) Obviously, we won’t be able to truly judge this trade for years. My only hesitancy is the conservative nature of the front office. Will the front office ever have the cojones to go star hunting? We’ll see.
11) A lot is being made about the fact that the unprotected pick is in the 2031 draft. I actually like that, too. The Timberwolves look like they’ll be good for a while longer. But by 2031, it’s possible they will be back to their customary spot in the cellar.
I’m also a proponent of San Antonio’s front office weaponizing their job security. Not many other front offices know that they’ll still be in charge seven years from now.
12) The Spurs also opened up a little bit more salary cap space by trading the No. 8 pick. That’s a positive side effect, for sure.
But, ultimately, it comes down to the unprotected first round pick. That’s the currency when it’s time to push your chips to the middle of the table. The Spurs are still in the early stages of trying to build Wembanyama’s first contending team. When the right opportunity presents itself to go star hunting, this Timberwolves trade will pay off.