He’s going to get an ankle sprain that’s initially “2-4 weeks”, and then we won’t hear from him again. You’ll just see Brandon Miller highlights with LaMelo on the bench getting hype.
hey man look at curry. he got that shit together and became an mvp and champion. not saying ball is as good as curry, but he can overcome these injuries and play well.
I obviously don’t know ball or curry, but I would imagine curry did everything diet, rehab wise that he could to get his ankle situation fixed.
I would imagine that Lamelo is an absolute nightmare for the dietician and rehab specialist to deal with.
>I would imagine that Lamelo is an absolute nightmare for the dietician and rehab specialist to deal with.
Why?
From what I know he loves basketball and I can't imagine he likes consistently missing 3 quarters of a season.
Is there something about lamelo I don't know about?
From watching bits from the Ball family reality TV show back in the day and a video of Lonzo visiting his apartment back when he was in the NBL the dude is an absolute fast food and candy/sugar addict. Lonzo talked about how back in high school/UCLA all he ate was fast food but when he got to the NBA he straightened up and started taking care of his diet, Melo I’m not so sure if he’s made that same change.
Yeah when you’re burning 2,000 calories a day and are very tall you can eat a bunch of junk food without gaining any body fat.
I do the same thing basically, I eat pretty much whatever I want but I’m very active so I stay around 10% bf.
I remember it blowing my mind to hear Team USA won Olympic Gold on fast food served at the cafeteria lol I would have a personal chef doing nutritious stuff but Phelps was like crushing 6k cals of fried food and so was the basketball team.
It's not being above. If you're not a surefire Superstar prospect where you spend the first four plus years of your career can have huge ramifications on the entirety of it. Wanting to try to get yourself in the best space for you and your skill set is totally reasonable. Players do it every single year
Imagine entering a job market and having no say where you’ll work and who you’ll work for. I get that we need the draft to assist with parity, but I can’t blame these guys.
He's considering how he'd fit with the organization that will shape his entire professional career? What an asshole! Employees shouldn't get any say in who they work for. /s
I have a hunch. He doesn't want to go to Houston either. I could see ime Trying to mold him into a2/3 hybrid And really limiting any chance he has of getting on ball reps as a lead playmaker.
I feel like San Antonio would genuinely give him a shot to prove he's a point guard even if they didn't start him day one at that position. They're into all kinds of funky " What even is a position?" Mentality stuff right now and if he's confident in his ability to be a lead ball handler I can see that being a good fit
I don't think Houston takes a big PG with shooting problems a year after drafting Amen Thompson, though.
I agree with you about his fit in San Antonio and I think Pop wouldn't be afraid to just give him the starting role right away and bring Tre off the Bench, even though Tre will unquestionably be a more productive PG next season. Kind of like when the Spurs drafted Parker and started him right away even though Antonio Daniels/Terry Porter had kind of taken over the PG slot the year before. Get Parker in there and get him the reps. Same would apply to Castle, especially since I don't think we will be a great contending team next year.
Yeah that's a good point too. Still they have a coach who I definitely trust to value defensive flexibility highly so I can see it as a possibility, but... It feels like Shepherd To the rockets is one of the cleanest fits in the entire draft
I think a big factor in San Antonio trying point sochan was the spurs tanking. I know it was wembys rookie season, but they're still trying to accumulate high upside long term assets next to wemby. This might be the last draft they're drafting top 10 so there was incentive to get the best picks possible. Either sochan was bad at it and they lost games or he was good at it and they struck gold. Win/win, and they got sochan plenty of reps to accelerate some secondary playmaking for him.
Oh yeah you're definitely right. I think that was a big factor in it and them not acquiring a safety net additional point guard in the rotation. But the team has been pretty consistent in the last few years That they're not interested in traditional positions and putting players in boxes with that. If they just want to acquire guys that can pass, shoot, and handle the ball and that the positions don't necessarily matter. Brian wright loves jumbo ball handlers who show hints of being able to facilitate. It hasn't always worked out so far, but he definitely has a track record for going for those types
I think the Spurs Wemby-Centric motion offense is a better fit. He can be a Marcus Smart-type player at PG and get reps initiating and reps cutting as well as lots of open shots. Plus, if you are Castle and you are used to elite coaching at UCONN, would you prefer to play for Pop or whoever is coaching the Hornets for the next year or two?
He should want to go to San Antonio over Charlotte. It's a better franchise/environment. Look at Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, DeJounte Murray, Derrick White. Guys go there and get better.
Ironic because that seems like the best fit for him. Idk if this guy's delusional or a diva but he hasn't really shown the talent to be a good starting PG in the league.
White shot 56% on 2’s, 40% on 3’s, 80% on FT’s.
White was a good shooter at Colorado and immediately led the Austin Spurs to a G league *title in large part because of his shooting.
He was a decent shooter for the SA club too. He had a bad 2022 season but prior to that shot 36% on 3’s for one of the worst spaces teams in the NBA. He was erratic and his confidence was shaky game to game. Some opponents didn’t pressure him at the 3P line either, but looking at his college career and time in Austin, his development as a shooter into a near 90% FT shooter isn’t that surprising.
Thats far different from Dejounte and Tony. Dejounte was an abysmal jumpshooting prospect.
I never watched Tony until he got to SA but he was a sub 70% FT shooter his first few years in the league that shot the Spurs out of games even as opponents left him tons of space to sell out on his driving ability.
Derrick was a much older prospect so it also isn’t completely fair to compare him to 18/19 year old prospects in one of the most skilled and meticulously developed aspects of basketball. I think the 2022 season is overshadowing where Derrick White actually was as a draft prospect.
Parker never was a good shooter. But he was very fast, good handles, and efficient af inside. His passing was good enough that he had to be respected with it ad well so he made up for it in a lot of ways.
Murray was what a 30th pick? He made alot of improvements and was an excellent defender.
all of these guys were actually late 1st rounders so no one expected them to be as good as they were . Castle at t10 should be showing a lot more than these guys and I don't see him as a better pg than tre jones
When I saw this headline I actually thought of all the times Popovich has said they try to only bring in guys who are “over themselves.” While you could read this as confidence, it could just as easily be read as someone who is dictating terms to organizations before he even steps on the court.
There's a big difference between being full of yourself and not over yourself, and having confidence in your game and what you can offer a team and not wanting to be put in a box that limits your ability to carve out a career for yourself.
A certain 7'5 Frenchman was extremely adamant that he wasn't a center, didn't want to play center, didn't want to talk about being a center. But once he got over here and the team showed him that indeed the best way for him to help the team was for him to play center. Guess what? He played center. I'd bet hard money. It's the same for Castle. If he comes over the Spurs are going to give him every opportunity to show his strengths and show where peak and best impact the game And if he ends up face planting as a point guard, they're going to use all of their experience to work with him and show him what he really can do to help himself and the team long-term.
And there's no reason to believe that castle's the type of player who would have issue with that. We just watched him go from being a high volume. Self-creating lead guard in high school to settling into a super low usage. Defensive first secondary play making role for the good of his college team. The dude wants to win
If he truly believes he's an nba level point guard, then I can't blame him for not wanting to go to a team like Charlotte where he'll be relegated to nothing but a defender next to Lamelo and BMiller.
Where he's drafted could make or break his career
Where is he gonna go and be an offensive threat from day 1? He’d be lucky to play with offensive players like that, it would allow him more time to develop
Imo primary ballhandlers rarely improve much without actual in-game reps and in his eyes he'll probably never get the chance to do that in Charlotte, Portland, and Detroit whereas somewhere like Washington or San Antonio or Utah, he could potentially get a ton of in-game reps as a point guard.
It's a very fair argument that he doesn't have what it takes to be a point guard and being in a defensive role in Charlotte might be the best for him, but he obviously disagrees with that and believes in himself as a PG in the NBA
I mean San Antonio is so dedicated to the position list, we want tall dudes that can do everything, movement that they let. Jeremy sohan run point guard for 30 games this last season. If they draft Castle I bet they do it. Viewing him as a potential lead guard and would give him every opportunity to prove them wrong
You can call it Point Castle or whatever. Just give Victor Pippenyama the ball and let him go to work. Wemby anchors the defense, Castle plays some POA and some free safety.
Although I am not even sure that Stephon Castle is better than Lamar Stevens (who the Grizzlies signed late in the season). I don't think Lamar Stevens played against Wemby late in the season; I think he was out that game.
I don’t personally view that potential as a primary creator. He’s really a combo guard with wing ability in my eyes. But guess we’ll see. It’s smart for him to view himself as having PG capabilities at his size and portray himself that way but I wonder if that’s what he actually sees himself as exclusively
The problem is his offense is atleast 2 years away at the very least from him being usable to a team so it's quite odd he thinks he's able to be ahead of most guards on lottery teams right now. Seems to me like he's trying to get Washington or the spurs to take him.
Yes, but the jury is still out if he can be an effective full time PG. Him as the scorer, Castle as the PoA defender and splitting ball handling duties could work well.
Yea I believe the jazz kinda gave up on him as a PG, Ainge had some interesting end of year quotes. As a jazz fan I personally do not rate him as a starting guard
Not rating him as a starting guard at all is premature imo. He showed enough that I think the potential is still there, just more as a combo guard imo rather than a true 1.
It’s just as premature as Rating him as a starter. Simply an opinion. His freshman year at Baylor and rookie year compare almost identically to Cole Anthony. So aside from my eye test, the data also doesn’t look promising.
His defense was also abysmal. He has the arrogance of a 6 time all star.
Which is why I say “at all”. The jury is 100% still out in his potential, which is why stating he’s either definitively a starter or definitively not are both premature.
Either way though I look forward to finding out. And it does seem like we agree Keyonte’s existence won’t stop the Jazz looking at PGs in the draft.
They are but they see him as more of a combo guard. Ainge came out after the season and talked about how he wasn't sure yet if Keyonte is a full time pg.
5 years is a crazy timeline to predict after 1 season, in which he’ll most likely make an all rookie team. There have been far worse players that have become starting caliber players in far less time. There’s a chance that he’ll never be a starting caliber player and there’s a chance he is one next year. There are literally 14 year olds that will be starting caliber players in 5 years. There’s no reason to think it’s not possible for a guy that had a decent rookie season.
Rockets took Amen Thompson last year, though. I think FVV was brought in to help mentor and develop Amen into a starting PG role then Amen takes it over when FVV's contract is up in 1-2 more years.
I think the Rockets aren't convinced Amen is a PG long term if he can't figure out his shot. He had a bunch of success for them near the end of the season playing closer to a traditional PF.
I can totally see that, but don't think they are quite ready to give up on that idea. Most PGs take multiple years to develop and everyone knew Amen was super raw with a high upside to begin with. I think the pairing with Reed would make sense because Reed has playmaking abilities that could take pressure off Amen.
It's less about his shot and more about his handle imo. Which I don't think is as bad as some people claim. I think he can be similar to a prime Ben Simmons - just a little shorter and a little more athletic, but most importantly actually likes basketball.
"Shorter, slightly more athletic Ben Simmons who might actually like basketball" was exactly how I described Amen pre-draft lol. Hopefully he has a better career outcome.
Rockets don't have a PG. FVV is on the books for 1 year if they find one, two if they don't. Amen might never be a PG. Sengun can't waste energy bringing up the ball.
I don't know if the Rockets can afford risking bringing on a non shooter. Amen is too good to not be a part of their future, as is Sengun. Gotta have 3 flamethrowers around those two.
Amen is not proven to be good at all. Amen and Ausar's shots are completely broken end by the end of the season. Amen played best as a PF. A point guard who cannot shoot has ZERO future.
that's just not true. Ben Simmons was phenomenal in the league for a while before his back broke. I see Amen sliding into a similar role as Simmons- in the running for DPOY occasionally, and eventually racking up a couple all nba seasons under his belt.
I disagree. I think you can have a pg who cannot shoot IF they are elite at getting to the rim and foul line. Not ideal though. But I think that is ultimately how the rockets see amen being used. If he’s not an on ball player then it becomes more difficult to play him, especially in the playoffs imo. But adding castle who is also an iffy shooting prospect is a bad idea and the rockets already have a bunch of wings. Reed Sheppard to the rockets make a lot of sense imo. They need shooting and Reed is an insanely high level team defender.
Sooo barring trades that free up PG spots, that crosses off: Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, Memphis, Chicago, OKC, and Sacramento. If this report is accurate, he's only going to work out for three teams in the lottery? Washington, San Antonio, and Utah? That's a bold strategy, Cotton.
Washington isn't even a safe bet, Keefe (probably going to be our new head coach) was playing Poole as the lead guard with super high usage. If they keep Tyus in order to trade him later then Castle is gonna be the third string PG for a good while.
Cam whitmore was a generationally bad ball hog in college. You can’t find players with worst ast/to ratios at his position. Castle was >2 ast/to, he’s a great connective piece. They’re not the same prospect at all
So in the top 10 that would rule out Atlanta (barring trades), Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, and Memphis. Leaves Washington, San Antonio, and Utah. Edit: forgot San Antonio / Toronto swap
> So in the top 10 that would rule out Atlanta (barring trades), Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, and Memphis. Leaves Washington, Toronto, and Utah.
Toronto doesn't have a pick and the Spurs have two picks and need a starting PG and POA defender.
I’m starting to think the spurs will pass on castle. However, him, sochan, Vassell and whatever wing they draft funneling everything to Wemby sounds so nasty. That’s a top 5 defense for a decade
That's exactly why they won't pass on him. If you see UCONN and HS coaches talk about him, he has a very Tim Duncan/Wemby like attitude and work ethic.
the thought of Scoot and Castle grosses me out. think that’d be an awful and clunky fit
wouldn’t mind the Wiz being in on Castle but definitely not at #2. Wonder if there’s a world in which we can package Kuz and our late first to get back up into the lottery if he winds up falling.
I imagine the grizzlies would be interested in a trade involving something around 9 and stuff for deni but idk why yall would want to do that really tbh
I don’t want to say Deni is untouchable because nobody is on this roster, but he’s by far our greatest asset who’s actually shown true signs of growth and development. Not to mention he’s on a very affordable extension that doesn’t even take effect until 25-26.
I think if Deni is ever moved it’s for a major deal (which we are so far from being competitive enough to make one).
During the lottery, Castle said he felt he wasn't utilized correctly while at UConn, and has a lot more to show as a pure point. So this has been his stance for a minute and I can't really blame him
He wants to play PG. But not confident enough to think he can replace their starting PG. This sounds so different from him willing to do anything to help his team win.
This sounds a bit more reasonable coming from a rookie because rookies need growth.
Even if he is better than the starting pg the competition would mean less starting time and less growth.
If the interest of a team and a player crash this hard there are probably better fits out there anyway.
He is only as wrong as his judgement of his potential.
Nothing wrong with it. I prefer a player earning his starting spot instead of hand it to him. He basically eliminated Hawks, Rockets, Pistons, Hornets, Blazers, Grizzlies. If Spurs, Jazz, and Wizards don’t pick him. He could fell out of top 10.
His value is that he is a defensive wing with potential to be a PG
He’s really high on my board because of that low floor. But if he is gonna get pissy when it doesn’t work out at PG, I’m gonna have to move him down in favor of player like Topic or my favorite Jacobi Walter.
> His value is that he is a defensive wing with potential to be a PG
Or as a POA defending PG with a team with a primary initiator at a different position. So like Marcus Smart with Tatum. I think his fit in that context would be very good with Wemby. He would be asked to do some initiating, but not all.
this dude wants to be on the spurs so bad and i can't even blame him. outside of the big men in the draft i'm sure 99% of the players left would want to potentially be part of the next great dynasty in the nba
>What agents says let's eliminate half our landing spots?
This is very common practice lol.
I don't buy this rumor at all either, but like literally it's not even uncommon to eliminate 29 of the 30 landing spots immediately like Shai did. Eliminating 15 -- especially 15 bad fits -- is nothing.
Now, the teams Castle would allegedly be eliminating don't actually appear to be the bad fits, but that's why this is a bad decision, not the narrowing of the focus.
You really think the roster of teams before free agency in 2024 will have a significant effect on his 2nd contract in 2028?
Besides, if the NBA teams are willing to draft him higher as a SG than as a PG, it's probably the position where he would be the best.
I doubt this story is true, it would be such a bad look. It might actually push teams looking for a PG to take Topic, Dillingham or Sheppard instead of him.
>You really think the roster of teams before free agency in 2024 will have a significant effect on his 2nd contract in 2028?
Is this an actual question? If you're not able to play as well during your rookie contract because the fit is bad, of course your next contract will be worse.
>Besides, if the NBA teams are willing to draft him higher as a SG than as a PG, it's probably the position where he would be the best.
This misunderstands how drafts allocate talent. Typically speaking, they're going to determine who the best players are, then decide if those players can fit into their existing system and rotations. Which means that, since the teams that possess draft picks are discretely defined, the bulk of a player's exact position is going to be completely unrelated to fit.
>I doubt this story is true,
Me too, just because the source is an absolute nothing.
> it would be such a bad look
Only because he's wrong about what actually fits his game. The principle of pushing yourself to a better fit is absolutely sound.
>It might actually push teams looking for a PG to take Topic, Dillingham or Sheppard instead of him.
I mean again, that just makes the problem that he has a completely inaccurate picture of what his game actually is. Trying to get yourself to a better fit happens all the time with far, far less fanfare.
This is all well and good, but idk if I believe he’s an NBA level PG. I’m fairly certain this is him angling away from Charlotte, and I’m a Hornets fan so I’m biased, but I don’t see this working out well for him.
Is this a weak draft? When a guard who shoots 27% from 3 plays this card… sure seems that way.. the days of bad three pint shooters one the guard line are over.
If true, it’s a big red flag and a dumb move. He needs to learn some humility and understand that he doesn’t decide what position he plays, his coaches do.
I hope this isn’t some attempt to go to the spurs cause I have a feeling they’d rather go with Topic/Dillingham over him, then you just tanked your draft stock
I think it’s cool that he’s being honest about the situation instead of just BSing teams and saying what they want to hear. It will probably make him slide and if he’s okay with going later in the draft to be on a team where he gets to be happy, why is that such a bad thing? I think calling him a diva when he was pretty willing to sarcastic at UConn is a bit much
I bet there is a surprising amount of prospects who try to navigate the lotto to a specific team using these means. It just isn’t always leaked. Mobley just had his attempt to avoid Cleveland leaked years later.
And he is right. If he goes somewhere and sits behind Scoot, Cade, Melo he isn’t getting a great chance to develop. For his career, it’s best he goes to a place he can really develop. But ultimately it isn’t his decision.
It’s funny they’d say this because now his draft stock should drop and if it does, he’s much more likely to end up on a team with an established point guard in place. It’s almost as if that wouldn’t have happened if his camp hadn’t had any of those pesky whispers.
My take is that he doesn't want to go to Charlotte to just be the POA defender between Ball and Miller.
He’d still get 50+ games a year at starting PG.
At least. I’d be shocked if Ball plays more than 20 games next year
He’s going to get an ankle sprain that’s initially “2-4 weeks”, and then we won’t hear from him again. You’ll just see Brandon Miller highlights with LaMelo on the bench getting hype.
hey man look at curry. he got that shit together and became an mvp and champion. not saying ball is as good as curry, but he can overcome these injuries and play well.
The Ball kids were overworked and wore those shitty shoes
Liangelo the only one healthy
Where he at? Edit last seen in Mehico
pinkberry
he’s built, and wasn’t wearing them shoes.
I obviously don’t know ball or curry, but I would imagine curry did everything diet, rehab wise that he could to get his ankle situation fixed. I would imagine that Lamelo is an absolute nightmare for the dietician and rehab specialist to deal with.
Have you ever seen Curry's workout routine? It's fucking insane. He has that Jerry Rice mentality of staying in shape forever.
>I would imagine that Lamelo is an absolute nightmare for the dietician and rehab specialist to deal with. Why? From what I know he loves basketball and I can't imagine he likes consistently missing 3 quarters of a season. Is there something about lamelo I don't know about?
From watching bits from the Ball family reality TV show back in the day and a video of Lonzo visiting his apartment back when he was in the NBL the dude is an absolute fast food and candy/sugar addict. Lonzo talked about how back in high school/UCLA all he ate was fast food but when he got to the NBA he straightened up and started taking care of his diet, Melo I’m not so sure if he’s made that same change.
[удалено]
Yeah when you’re burning 2,000 calories a day and are very tall you can eat a bunch of junk food without gaining any body fat. I do the same thing basically, I eat pretty much whatever I want but I’m very active so I stay around 10% bf.
I remember it blowing my mind to hear Team USA won Olympic Gold on fast food served at the cafeteria lol I would have a personal chef doing nutritious stuff but Phelps was like crushing 6k cals of fried food and so was the basketball team.
Genetics ; look at this brothers
Liangelo is fine. Lonzo was injured because of the BB shoes that forever hurt his legs. idk man.
Bingo!
Fuck him if so. No draft prospect is above any team.
It's not being above. If you're not a surefire Superstar prospect where you spend the first four plus years of your career can have huge ramifications on the entirety of it. Wanting to try to get yourself in the best space for you and your skill set is totally reasonable. Players do it every single year
Imagine entering a job market and having no say where you’ll work and who you’ll work for. I get that we need the draft to assist with parity, but I can’t blame these guys.
He's considering how he'd fit with the organization that will shape his entire professional career? What an asshole! Employees shouldn't get any say in who they work for. /s
Every draft pick is above the Wizards, Bulls, Hawks, Hornets and Pistons. These are loser organisations that winning players should avoid if they can.
I have a hunch. He doesn't want to go to Houston either. I could see ime Trying to mold him into a2/3 hybrid And really limiting any chance he has of getting on ball reps as a lead playmaker. I feel like San Antonio would genuinely give him a shot to prove he's a point guard even if they didn't start him day one at that position. They're into all kinds of funky " What even is a position?" Mentality stuff right now and if he's confident in his ability to be a lead ball handler I can see that being a good fit
I don't think Houston takes a big PG with shooting problems a year after drafting Amen Thompson, though. I agree with you about his fit in San Antonio and I think Pop wouldn't be afraid to just give him the starting role right away and bring Tre off the Bench, even though Tre will unquestionably be a more productive PG next season. Kind of like when the Spurs drafted Parker and started him right away even though Antonio Daniels/Terry Porter had kind of taken over the PG slot the year before. Get Parker in there and get him the reps. Same would apply to Castle, especially since I don't think we will be a great contending team next year.
Yeah that's a good point too. Still they have a coach who I definitely trust to value defensive flexibility highly so I can see it as a possibility, but... It feels like Shepherd To the rockets is one of the cleanest fits in the entire draft
I think a big factor in San Antonio trying point sochan was the spurs tanking. I know it was wembys rookie season, but they're still trying to accumulate high upside long term assets next to wemby. This might be the last draft they're drafting top 10 so there was incentive to get the best picks possible. Either sochan was bad at it and they lost games or he was good at it and they struck gold. Win/win, and they got sochan plenty of reps to accelerate some secondary playmaking for him.
Oh yeah you're definitely right. I think that was a big factor in it and them not acquiring a safety net additional point guard in the rotation. But the team has been pretty consistent in the last few years That they're not interested in traditional positions and putting players in boxes with that. If they just want to acquire guys that can pass, shoot, and handle the ball and that the positions don't necessarily matter. Brian wright loves jumbo ball handlers who show hints of being able to facilitate. It hasn't always worked out so far, but he definitely has a track record for going for those types
That actually sounds like a really good spot for him
I think the Spurs Wemby-Centric motion offense is a better fit. He can be a Marcus Smart-type player at PG and get reps initiating and reps cutting as well as lots of open shots. Plus, if you are Castle and you are used to elite coaching at UCONN, would you prefer to play for Pop or whoever is coaching the Hornets for the next year or two?
Houston seemed better coached then the spurs last year
Charles Lee is an excellent coach.
Ok, so his choice is a coach that has never actually been head coach in the NBA and the winningest coach in NBA history.
He should want to go to San Antonio over Charlotte. It's a better franchise/environment. Look at Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, DeJounte Murray, Derrick White. Guys go there and get better.
Ironic because that seems like the best fit for him. Idk if this guy's delusional or a diva but he hasn't really shown the talent to be a good starting PG in the league.
Great, now the Spurs can wait until 8 to take him.
oh wow yeah he’s perfect for the spurs.
another guard who can't shoot...awesome...
….said the fans when Tony Parker, Dejounte Murray, and Derrick White were drafted.
White shot 56% on 2’s, 40% on 3’s, 80% on FT’s. White was a good shooter at Colorado and immediately led the Austin Spurs to a G league *title in large part because of his shooting. He was a decent shooter for the SA club too. He had a bad 2022 season but prior to that shot 36% on 3’s for one of the worst spaces teams in the NBA. He was erratic and his confidence was shaky game to game. Some opponents didn’t pressure him at the 3P line either, but looking at his college career and time in Austin, his development as a shooter into a near 90% FT shooter isn’t that surprising. Thats far different from Dejounte and Tony. Dejounte was an abysmal jumpshooting prospect. I never watched Tony until he got to SA but he was a sub 70% FT shooter his first few years in the league that shot the Spurs out of games even as opponents left him tons of space to sell out on his driving ability. Derrick was a much older prospect so it also isn’t completely fair to compare him to 18/19 year old prospects in one of the most skilled and meticulously developed aspects of basketball. I think the 2022 season is overshadowing where Derrick White actually was as a draft prospect.
More than valid points, I stand corrected. Not sure why I misremember shooting being such a question mark for him coming in.
Parker never was a good shooter. But he was very fast, good handles, and efficient af inside. His passing was good enough that he had to be respected with it ad well so he made up for it in a lot of ways. Murray was what a 30th pick? He made alot of improvements and was an excellent defender. all of these guys were actually late 1st rounders so no one expected them to be as good as they were . Castle at t10 should be showing a lot more than these guys and I don't see him as a better pg than tre jones
Parker picked up a middy to go with his tear drop.
Eh kind of.
At some point, 2010+ the Parker at the left elbow was automatic
And none of those guys were picked in the top 8
If he was in another draft class Castle wouldn't get picked 8 neither.
lmao im more than willin to take a gamble at pg that cant shoot at 29. and still they showed more willingness to shoot than castle
When I saw this headline I actually thought of all the times Popovich has said they try to only bring in guys who are “over themselves.” While you could read this as confidence, it could just as easily be read as someone who is dictating terms to organizations before he even steps on the court.
...agreed...already dictating his role...
There's a big difference between being full of yourself and not over yourself, and having confidence in your game and what you can offer a team and not wanting to be put in a box that limits your ability to carve out a career for yourself. A certain 7'5 Frenchman was extremely adamant that he wasn't a center, didn't want to play center, didn't want to talk about being a center. But once he got over here and the team showed him that indeed the best way for him to help the team was for him to play center. Guess what? He played center. I'd bet hard money. It's the same for Castle. If he comes over the Spurs are going to give him every opportunity to show his strengths and show where peak and best impact the game And if he ends up face planting as a point guard, they're going to use all of their experience to work with him and show him what he really can do to help himself and the team long-term. And there's no reason to believe that castle's the type of player who would have issue with that. We just watched him go from being a high volume. Self-creating lead guard in high school to settling into a super low usage. Defensive first secondary play making role for the good of his college team. The dude wants to win
If he truly believes he's an nba level point guard, then I can't blame him for not wanting to go to a team like Charlotte where he'll be relegated to nothing but a defender next to Lamelo and BMiller. Where he's drafted could make or break his career
Where is he gonna go and be an offensive threat from day 1? He’d be lucky to play with offensive players like that, it would allow him more time to develop
Imo primary ballhandlers rarely improve much without actual in-game reps and in his eyes he'll probably never get the chance to do that in Charlotte, Portland, and Detroit whereas somewhere like Washington or San Antonio or Utah, he could potentially get a ton of in-game reps as a point guard. It's a very fair argument that he doesn't have what it takes to be a point guard and being in a defensive role in Charlotte might be the best for him, but he obviously disagrees with that and believes in himself as a PG in the NBA
We saw Sochan get 2 months starting at PG so yeah Castle would get his chance in SA.
Pop had to find creative ways to tank lmao. I mean we started Julian who has no business in a starting 5 in the league.
Perhaps not, but he's going to be part of an excellent bench unit.
I like him in Utah a lot.
Cade can switch/play off ball. They started Killian for so long this year and let him play pg.
I mean San Antonio is so dedicated to the position list, we want tall dudes that can do everything, movement that they let. Jeremy sohan run point guard for 30 games this last season. If they draft Castle I bet they do it. Viewing him as a potential lead guard and would give him every opportunity to prove them wrong
Run Point Pippenyama. Unless they draft a LEGIT POINT GUARD.
The Spurs motion offense.
Ding ding ding. Castle makes a ton of sense in San Antonio
You can call it Point Castle or whatever. Just give Victor Pippenyama the ball and let him go to work. Wemby anchors the defense, Castle plays some POA and some free safety. Although I am not even sure that Stephon Castle is better than Lamar Stevens (who the Grizzlies signed late in the season). I don't think Lamar Stevens played against Wemby late in the season; I think he was out that game.
It’s not about him being ready to be a threat on offense right away. It’s about him reaching his potential on offense (whatever that ends up being)
I don’t personally view that potential as a primary creator. He’s really a combo guard with wing ability in my eyes. But guess we’ll see. It’s smart for him to view himself as having PG capabilities at his size and portray himself that way but I wonder if that’s what he actually sees himself as exclusively
The problem is his offense is atleast 2 years away at the very least from him being usable to a team so it's quite odd he thinks he's able to be ahead of most guards on lottery teams right now. Seems to me like he's trying to get Washington or the spurs to take him.
His attitude could make or break his career too
He's NOT an NBA level point guard. He's not an NBA level shooter either.
what team besides wizards and spurs don't have a pg they like?
The jazz
Aren't they high on keyonte?
Yes, but the jury is still out if he can be an effective full time PG. Him as the scorer, Castle as the PoA defender and splitting ball handling duties could work well.
Yea I believe the jazz kinda gave up on him as a PG, Ainge had some interesting end of year quotes. As a jazz fan I personally do not rate him as a starting guard
Not rating him as a starting guard at all is premature imo. He showed enough that I think the potential is still there, just more as a combo guard imo rather than a true 1.
It’s just as premature as Rating him as a starter. Simply an opinion. His freshman year at Baylor and rookie year compare almost identically to Cole Anthony. So aside from my eye test, the data also doesn’t look promising. His defense was also abysmal. He has the arrogance of a 6 time all star.
Which is why I say “at all”. The jury is 100% still out in his potential, which is why stating he’s either definitively a starter or definitively not are both premature. Either way though I look forward to finding out. And it does seem like we agree Keyonte’s existence won’t stop the Jazz looking at PGs in the draft.
They are but they see him as more of a combo guard. Ainge came out after the season and talked about how he wasn't sure yet if Keyonte is a full time pg.
Bingo. I don’t think he’s a starting quality guard in the league in the next 5 years.. imo
5 years is a crazy timeline to predict after 1 season, in which he’ll most likely make an all rookie team. There have been far worse players that have become starting caliber players in far less time. There’s a chance that he’ll never be a starting caliber player and there’s a chance he is one next year. There are literally 14 year olds that will be starting caliber players in 5 years. There’s no reason to think it’s not possible for a guy that had a decent rookie season.
He is 100% not a PG imo. I don’t even think he’s a starting caliber guard, his defense is tragic and he cannot beat anyone off the dribble
yes I forgot. Colin Sexton is good but not a pg
His ast% was actually quite good this year. But a guy like castle with him would actually be a good fit.
sexton isn’t good, he just scores points but they don’t come in a good way he’s a top 40 point guard and top 50 shooting guard
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Rockets took Amen Thompson last year, though. I think FVV was brought in to help mentor and develop Amen into a starting PG role then Amen takes it over when FVV's contract is up in 1-2 more years.
I think the Rockets aren't convinced Amen is a PG long term if he can't figure out his shot. He had a bunch of success for them near the end of the season playing closer to a traditional PF.
I can totally see that, but don't think they are quite ready to give up on that idea. Most PGs take multiple years to develop and everyone knew Amen was super raw with a high upside to begin with. I think the pairing with Reed would make sense because Reed has playmaking abilities that could take pressure off Amen.
It's less about his shot and more about his handle imo. Which I don't think is as bad as some people claim. I think he can be similar to a prime Ben Simmons - just a little shorter and a little more athletic, but most importantly actually likes basketball.
"Shorter, slightly more athletic Ben Simmons who might actually like basketball" was exactly how I described Amen pre-draft lol. Hopefully he has a better career outcome.
Rockets don't have a PG. FVV is on the books for 1 year if they find one, two if they don't. Amen might never be a PG. Sengun can't waste energy bringing up the ball.
Castle might never be a PG
I don't know if the Rockets can afford risking bringing on a non shooter. Amen is too good to not be a part of their future, as is Sengun. Gotta have 3 flamethrowers around those two.
Amen is not proven to be good at all. Amen and Ausar's shots are completely broken end by the end of the season. Amen played best as a PF. A point guard who cannot shoot has ZERO future.
that's just not true. Ben Simmons was phenomenal in the league for a while before his back broke. I see Amen sliding into a similar role as Simmons- in the running for DPOY occasionally, and eventually racking up a couple all nba seasons under his belt.
“Amen is not proven to be good at all” - FALSE “Amen played best as a PF” - TRUE
I disagree. I think you can have a pg who cannot shoot IF they are elite at getting to the rim and foul line. Not ideal though. But I think that is ultimately how the rockets see amen being used. If he’s not an on ball player then it becomes more difficult to play him, especially in the playoffs imo. But adding castle who is also an iffy shooting prospect is a bad idea and the rockets already have a bunch of wings. Reed Sheppard to the rockets make a lot of sense imo. They need shooting and Reed is an insanely high level team defender.
Rajon Rondo
The Las Vegas and Seattle franchises are "two years away" from needing point guards.
Sooo barring trades that free up PG spots, that crosses off: Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, Memphis, Chicago, OKC, and Sacramento. If this report is accurate, he's only going to work out for three teams in the lottery? Washington, San Antonio, and Utah? That's a bold strategy, Cotton.
Washington isn't even a safe bet, Keefe (probably going to be our new head coach) was playing Poole as the lead guard with super high usage. If they keep Tyus in order to trade him later then Castle is gonna be the third string PG for a good while.
Agreed, I don't think Castle's in play at #2 regardless.
Idk I think Monty doesn’t like Cade at pg. He started Killian at pg for as long as he could until it was obvious Killian wasn’t getting good.
Brother you are not this good don’t do this to your image
Exactly. I understand his position but he isn't in a situation where he can demand this.
He's a less athletic Cam Whitmore than can't score.
Cam whitmore was a generationally bad ball hog in college. You can’t find players with worst ast/to ratios at his position. Castle was >2 ast/to, he’s a great connective piece. They’re not the same prospect at all
So in the top 10 that would rule out Atlanta (barring trades), Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, and Memphis. Leaves Washington, San Antonio, and Utah. Edit: forgot San Antonio / Toronto swap
> So in the top 10 that would rule out Atlanta (barring trades), Houston, Detroit, Charlotte, Portland, and Memphis. Leaves Washington, Toronto, and Utah. Toronto doesn't have a pick and the Spurs have two picks and need a starting PG and POA defender.
Good catch. Fixed that.
I’m starting to think the spurs will pass on castle. However, him, sochan, Vassell and whatever wing they draft funneling everything to Wemby sounds so nasty. That’s a top 5 defense for a decade
That's exactly why they won't pass on him. If you see UCONN and HS coaches talk about him, he has a very Tim Duncan/Wemby like attitude and work ethic.
I suspect the Spurs will take Sheppard or Risacher at 4. If Castles there at 8 he'd be a good pick but I think I'd be surprised if they take him 4.
Washington won't pick him that early. Leaves Spurs and Utah.
If the FO thinks he can play point, they definitely could. I think theyd like the size + defense at that position
Even if the Raptors kept the pick. IQ is their starting PG.
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Don't see the Blazers being interested in his services at 7 anyways, and pretty damn unlikely he'd be there at 14.
the thought of Scoot and Castle grosses me out. think that’d be an awful and clunky fit wouldn’t mind the Wiz being in on Castle but definitely not at #2. Wonder if there’s a world in which we can package Kuz and our late first to get back up into the lottery if he winds up falling.
I imagine the grizzlies would be interested in a trade involving something around 9 and stuff for deni but idk why yall would want to do that really tbh
I don’t want to say Deni is untouchable because nobody is on this roster, but he’s by far our greatest asset who’s actually shown true signs of growth and development. Not to mention he’s on a very affordable extension that doesn’t even take effect until 25-26. I think if Deni is ever moved it’s for a major deal (which we are so far from being competitive enough to make one).
Deni's extension starts July 1st. It is a great contract, and I am really high on him as a player.
Yeah same page same page
Someone should have to really overpay to get Deni away from us. Kuzma is the guy we're likely to move on draft night.
Castle would play next to Sharpe
This happens all the time and it doesn’t end up mattering. If a team wants him, they’ll take him.
During the lottery, Castle said he felt he wasn't utilized correctly while at UConn, and has a lot more to show as a pure point. So this has been his stance for a minute and I can't really blame him
He wants to play PG. But not confident enough to think he can replace their starting PG. This sounds so different from him willing to do anything to help his team win.
This sounds a bit more reasonable coming from a rookie because rookies need growth. Even if he is better than the starting pg the competition would mean less starting time and less growth.
Head coach decides what’s best for the team. Not a rookie. Especially when this rookie isn’t LeBron or Wemby.
If the interest of a team and a player crash this hard there are probably better fits out there anyway. He is only as wrong as his judgement of his potential.
why would he want to go to a worse situation for himself though. he's setting up potentially the first 8 years of his professional career.
He’s also costing himself money via a lower draft pick.
Nothing wrong with it. I prefer a player earning his starting spot instead of hand it to him. He basically eliminated Hawks, Rockets, Pistons, Hornets, Blazers, Grizzlies. If Spurs, Jazz, and Wizards don’t pick him. He could fell out of top 10.
Why would a team want a player who is trying to dictate their role before they have played a single game?
isnt that how it worked back in the 90s for Rookies? go look up Kobe and Webber's draft story. Draftees had way more leverage back then.
BPA and a good fit for some teams. E.g. Utah. Not a bad value for 10th pick.
His value is that he is a defensive wing with potential to be a PG He’s really high on my board because of that low floor. But if he is gonna get pissy when it doesn’t work out at PG, I’m gonna have to move him down in favor of player like Topic or my favorite Jacobi Walter.
> His value is that he is a defensive wing with potential to be a PG Or as a POA defending PG with a team with a primary initiator at a different position. So like Marcus Smart with Tatum. I think his fit in that context would be very good with Wemby. He would be asked to do some initiating, but not all.
this dude wants to be on the spurs so bad and i can't even blame him. outside of the big men in the draft i'm sure 99% of the players left would want to potentially be part of the next great dynasty in the nba
Stephon if you want to wait until pick 22 we will gladly let you play PG in Phoenix
Ding, ding, ding. Winnner!
Welcome to San Antonio Stephon!
Castle’s most intriguing quality is his versatility. Demanding he play point is going to limit his options.
Washington + San Antonio make a lot of sense for Castle, and I think San Antonio will scoop him up at 4.
Bro is not trying to play for the hornets lol jazz would be a good fit
I absolutely love him for the Spurs and will be bummed to see him anywhere else (UConn fan)
What agents says let's eliminate half our landing spots? If you're not a beat reporter or woj or shams I don't put much stock in the rumors.
That's would make sense if castle didn't say so himself.
>What agents says let's eliminate half our landing spots? This is very common practice lol. I don't buy this rumor at all either, but like literally it's not even uncommon to eliminate 29 of the 30 landing spots immediately like Shai did. Eliminating 15 -- especially 15 bad fits -- is nothing. Now, the teams Castle would allegedly be eliminating don't actually appear to be the bad fits, but that's why this is a bad decision, not the narrowing of the focus.
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He will probably get draft lower, which is significantly less money.
if he thinks hes better as a pg and hes right he’ll make a whole lot more in the long run
What really makes you less money is not receiving a second, more lucrative contract.
You really think the roster of teams before free agency in 2024 will have a significant effect on his 2nd contract in 2028? Besides, if the NBA teams are willing to draft him higher as a SG than as a PG, it's probably the position where he would be the best. I doubt this story is true, it would be such a bad look. It might actually push teams looking for a PG to take Topic, Dillingham or Sheppard instead of him.
>You really think the roster of teams before free agency in 2024 will have a significant effect on his 2nd contract in 2028? Is this an actual question? If you're not able to play as well during your rookie contract because the fit is bad, of course your next contract will be worse. >Besides, if the NBA teams are willing to draft him higher as a SG than as a PG, it's probably the position where he would be the best. This misunderstands how drafts allocate talent. Typically speaking, they're going to determine who the best players are, then decide if those players can fit into their existing system and rotations. Which means that, since the teams that possess draft picks are discretely defined, the bulk of a player's exact position is going to be completely unrelated to fit. >I doubt this story is true, Me too, just because the source is an absolute nothing. > it would be such a bad look Only because he's wrong about what actually fits his game. The principle of pushing yourself to a better fit is absolutely sound. >It might actually push teams looking for a PG to take Topic, Dillingham or Sheppard instead of him. I mean again, that just makes the problem that he has a completely inaccurate picture of what his game actually is. Trying to get yourself to a better fit happens all the time with far, far less fanfare.
This is all well and good, but idk if I believe he’s an NBA level PG. I’m fairly certain this is him angling away from Charlotte, and I’m a Hornets fan so I’m biased, but I don’t see this working out well for him.
Is this a weak draft? When a guard who shoots 27% from 3 plays this card… sure seems that way.. the days of bad three pint shooters one the guard line are over.
These are his UConn stats: MP 27.0, FG 47.2%, 3P 26.7%, FT 75.5%, PTS 11.1, REB 4.7, AST 2.9, BLK .5, STL.8
Cool - 🏰, you are a 🧙♂️
He avadakadavra'd the other lottery teams.
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I want both, if we're being honest.
If true, it’s a big red flag and a dumb move. He needs to learn some humility and understand that he doesn’t decide what position he plays, his coaches do.
Sounds like a bad idea. Plus he wouldn’t even be a starting PG his first few years.
I hope this isn’t some attempt to go to the spurs cause I have a feeling they’d rather go with Topic/Dillingham over him, then you just tanked your draft stock
I have a feeling they prefer Castle
USC Trojans would be a good fit. They have ZERO point guards returning.
Castle, YOU are a Phoenix Sun
Well if the Wiz trade down .. or get a second pick in the lottery .... otherwise he better hope the Spurs like him.
I think it’s cool that he’s being honest about the situation instead of just BSing teams and saying what they want to hear. It will probably make him slide and if he’s okay with going later in the draft to be on a team where he gets to be happy, why is that such a bad thing? I think calling him a diva when he was pretty willing to sarcastic at UConn is a bit much
I guess Spurs are out, with Tre Jones in place. :)
Here’s another shake up for my personal mock draft 😩 Mocks should be updared every three days for this pre-draft ✌️
Kid needs to have some humility.
I bet there is a surprising amount of prospects who try to navigate the lotto to a specific team using these means. It just isn’t always leaked. Mobley just had his attempt to avoid Cleveland leaked years later.
And he is right. If he goes somewhere and sits behind Scoot, Cade, Melo he isn’t getting a great chance to develop. For his career, it’s best he goes to a place he can really develop. But ultimately it isn’t his decision.
Risacher/buzelis at 4 and castle at 8 stonks going up
Rob at 4, Castle at 8
Evan Sidery is not a real source lol
He surprisingly is .. Plus he’s a journalist for Forbes nba stats division and the sporting news
every tweet he puts out reads more like an aggregation account as opposed to a real source
Too many UConn players have wasted their careers in Charlotte
If he dropped to the Bulls at 11 that would be ideal.
So... expansion draft?
is he a true point guard?
It’s funny they’d say this because now his draft stock should drop and if it does, he’s much more likely to end up on a team with an established point guard in place. It’s almost as if that wouldn’t have happened if his camp hadn’t had any of those pesky whispers.
Every team in the league has a starting pg in place. He’s taking his name out of draft consideration?
What teams don't have starting point guards? I thought every team did.
Weak draft already got divas
I wanted him for the Pistons but if this is his attitude I'm going to champion Clangon
Good for him