Castle’s play could force the Spurs to act quicker than everyone thought

Due to early injuries to Tre Jones and Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle was able to play significant minutes early in the season. His logging of the first few minutes has helped the Spurs, who haven’t had a big guard capable of harassing opposing guards in a while.

He has also shown more in the way he takes shots. Although he didn’t always play with the ball in his hands at UConn, Castle has experience as a point guard, and it shows in his ability to create separation with nasty crossovers. He is also adept at using hesitant dribbles to confuse his defender’s timing and get into the game.

His shot is still a work in progress, but it’s safe to say Castle is better than many would have reasonably expected him to be right in front of goal. This presents the Spurs with a potential dilemma.

The Spurs had few options at point guard last season and have several this season. There’s obviously Chris Paul and Jones, who’s injured, but also Blake Wesley, who’s been great defensively. Castle could eventually take Paul’s spot in the starting lineup at point guard, but is playing the backup shooting guard role, at least for now.

If Castle continues to play well, it would make sense for coach Gregg Popovich to consider using him alongside Paul. Vassell will be back soon and Jeremy Sochan has been playing great so he shouldn’t be benched and of course there’s Victor Wembanyama.

Benching Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes seems like a bad idea considering both are above-average shooters, but one is going to go to the bench anyway, and the second unit doesn’t have much spacing anyway. Jones, Wesley, Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins are all below-average shooters, so putting two good shooters on the bench would help in that regard.

The Spurs would also get another ball handler in the starting lineup and more shot creation. With Paul, Castle, Vassell and Sochan, who seem increasingly comfortable on offensive closeouts, as well as Wemby, San Antonio has five players who can make shots for themselves or others.

Defensively, Castle would get representatives guarding the other team’s best defender, while Paul, Vassell, Sochan and Wembanyama are all good on that end of the floor too. This would allow the Spurs to have balance on both sides of the starting lineup and more shots off the bench.

Starting Castle would also have the benefit of potentially speeding up his development, which should be a goal for this season. Therefore, the Spurs should welcome him starting the future.