In Castle, the Spurs have a future that should be worth the wait
For at least a night, one of San Antonio's youngest stars distracts from the team's recent struggles on the home front.
There was a sort of seriousness with which Stephon Castle played the Rising Stars game, an event that up until the format change to a mini-tournament last year had somehow always been even more casual than the All-Star Game itself. But with target scores and a ticket to Sunday’s main stage on the line, the kids had no time to waste cosplaying as the Harlem Globetrotters.
And Castle stood out in a talented crowd that’s still cutting its teeth in the league. His poise, pace and control had the likes of Candace Parker and Vince Carter swooning, his game-winner in the first matchup and all-around dominance in the second brought a sense of validation for Spurs fans, and his overall performance (with the Dunk Contest and All-Star Game still to come) was just enough to temporarily distract them from recent team performances on the home front.
This is what the future looks like, and it should be worth the wait.
As I wrote about following the De’Aaron Fox trade, San Antonio would’ve preferred its major movement to occur over the offseason. It would’ve given them a clearer overall picture of personnel needs, a better view of the NBA landscape, added time and space to operate, and a more seamless transition from one roster iteration to another. But once Klutch Sports (Fox’s representation) forced Sacramento’s hand, it in turn forced the Spurs to act. Fortunately for the latter, negotiations and the eventual execution of the deal went about as perfectly as possible.
But we’re still seeing the fallout, if you choose to call it that, of a midseason trade. The less-than-optimal lineups, sometimes clunky rotations, and an overall ongoing adjustment to a new, high-usage piece of the puzzle while a promising young player in Castle operates off the bench. It’s not easy to drop a high-usage dynamo like Fox into a system that had already been troubleshooting issues of its own for nearly 50 games prior to the introduction of that new variable.
Naturally, the focus has been on the two-guard look Fox formed with Chris Paul in the starting lineup. It used to be relatively common to see a backcourt featuring a couple of guys 6’3 and under, but those days have made way to the era of the behemoths, and those small looks are rarely seen within that opening five because of it.
But somehow — and perhaps contrary to popular belief — it’s actually working pretty well thus far for the Spurs.
Fox and Paul have played 228 non-garbage-time possessions together since the former arrived in San Antonio ahead of the trade deadline, per Cleaning the Glass. In their time together on the court, the Spurs have outscored opponents by 7.3 points per 100 possessions and have been humming along to the tune of a 123.7 offensive rating, a number that would land them in the 95th percentile leaguewide. And what’s even more surprising, San Antonio’s 116.4 defensive rating when the two are on the floor together (35th percentile) is a drop-off of only .6 points per 100 possessions from its season average.
On top of that, it turns out Paul’s presence on the floor has also been a boon for Fox as he and the Spurs get to know one another. In the 146 non-garbage-time possessions San Antonio’s point guard of the future has spent on the floor without his Hall-of-Fame teammate, the Spurs have been outscored by 4.0 points per 100 possessions.
And let’s push it out even further.
In the 142 possessions Fox has spent on the court with Castle (whose scoring surges and primary ball-handling off the bench have been like mana from heaven for a San Antonio bench that had been struggling mightily), the Spurs have been outscored by 11.7 points per 100 possessions. And speaking of that bench — when paired with Devin Vassell, who usually gets the extended runs to finish the first and third quarters, the reserve group of Castle, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, Jeremy Sochan has outscored opponents by 6.1 points per 100 possessions this season.
Say what you will about fits — and we know this isn’t what the long-term future will look like — but what’s being put on the floor around Victor Wembanyama is producing as the Spurs try to figure things out on the fly and scramble their way toward the Play-In Tournament.
Fox’s presence is invaluable to this team because he can score with or without a system, something San Antonio has sorely needed. But his on-court relationship with his teammates is still very much a work in progress, as is his understanding of the offense. All of this is normal, and it should come as no surprise that Paul remaining in place has helped steady things as much as one could expect. He’s been doing it all season, after all.
The set of data points is a small one, and at this point shouldn’t serve as an indicator of what’s to come as time passes. But as San Antonio attempts to hang on to the postseason rope, it’s got to give itself its best chance to win right now. Today.
We can talk until we’re blue in the face about promises made to Paul by Gregg Popovich when CP3 signed in San Antonio, and the human element in all this should never be ignored. In the twilight of his career, Paul wanted to “hoop,” and he’s made the Spurs a much better team on the floor and in the locker room — just watch Castle’s postgame interview on Friday — in exchange for a critical role on the team. It has been and continues to be a win-win transaction, and lest you think Pop’s day-to-day impact is absent simply because he isn’t on the bench, it’s an agreement that will remain in place for now.
But set aside the negotiations, accords and locker room stuff if you’d like — the lineups and rotations, while odd-looking and seemingly lacking in continuity at times, have also been effective on paper. It’s a small sample size, but San Antonio is currently dealing in small sample sizes, literally from one game to the next. So what is the problem?
Oh brother, I’m glad you asked.
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