Spurs rookie Stephon Castle has already drawn headlines for his defensive performances this season, as well as given Spurs fans big dreams of how he’ll pair alongside Victor Wembanyama in coming years, on that end of the floor.

Castle’s build — 6-foot-6, 215 pounds — has been NBA-ready from the get-go. He’s physical, athletic, and his defensive upside enormous. But that’s not all he is.

Castle has a keen understanding of his athleticism, as well as when to utilize it, and when not to. Offensively, he isn’t constantly trying to jump over his competition, but rather use his speed to get to a spot, only to decelerate, and open up scoring opportunities.

While there’s obviously major, major distance between the two, his approach to offense isn’t entirely dissimilar to Paul Pierce, a player who also came into the league with a reputation of being highly athletic, but who ended up relying considerably more on his footwork, intelligence, and raw strength, than pure jumping ability. 

For Castle, the offense has taken some time to get a hang of. At just 20 years old, however, this was never much of a problem. He wasn’t a natural shooter at Connecticut, nor was he an overwhelming volume scorer, evident by his 11.1 points per game.

He’s at 11.6 points this season, but it’s the last four games in which he’s begun looking more determined as a scorer. 

He’s averaging 20 points in those games, which include a 53.6% conversion rate, and five free throw attempts per night.

Yes, he’s still struggling from the outside, hitting just 29.4%, but that’s a topic for later. For now, we’re getting a look at how part of Castle’s scoring profile will probably look, as he matures.

The ability to get to the line is a big one, and it makes sense. When you combine his patience in the post, with his deceleration ability, you get trigger-happy defenders, who’ll slap him across his arms or body. 

When you then factor in that Castle is built to absorb contact, and can still power through, eventually a good chunk of those situations will end up in and-1’s.

There is a world where Castle becomes a high-efficiency player, specifically on the inside, due to the above factors. He’s hitting just under 64% of his shots within three feet of the basket on the season, but that seems to be a result of early-season jitters, and getting a rookie whistle.

In January, he’s bumped up his efficiency around the rim to 73.3%, and while that percentage might not be sustainable for the rest of this season, it might prove more to closer to his prime norm, when we get there.

Regardless, the rookie is taking a leap offensively, even if it’s only in spurts. He’s exploring what can happen if he consistently takes shots throughout the course of a game, and so far the results are encouraging. 

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

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