Stephon Castle has been thrown from the frying pan and into the fire. The expectations on his shoulders were lofty heading into the season: be the best perimeter defender in the 2024 NBA Draft.
He has made a complete mockery of those expectations. With De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama ruled out for the season and Jeremy Sochan moved to the sixth-man role, Castle has become the best and primary defender on the San Antonio Spurs.
He was expected to take some time to blossom into the role, forming an elite defensive duo with Wembanyama, but he's shown that he can, at the very least, hold his own as the primary option.
On Tuesday, the Spurs lost to the Orlando Magic. Castle finished with 16 points and seven turnovers.
However, he played stellar defense and seems to have Franz Wagner's number. Wagner is one of the better young forwards in the NBA and has four inches on Castle, but the rookie has made life hard for him all season.
In 14 minutes as the primary defender, Castle has held Wagner to 11 points on 4-17 shooting from the floor and 22.2 percent from deep. Wagner's season averages are 46.2 percent from the floor and 29 percent from deep.
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After the game, Castle detailed how he makes life harder for larger defenders.
"One-on-one, I feel like I did a pretty good job," said Castle of guarding Wagner. "He got a couple of catch-and-shoots early, but with a team like that when you can load up and have heavy shifts it makes it a lot easier. Just playing the numbers, guys are going to have good shooting nights."
Castle will likely be asked to repeat his performance on Wednesday as the Spurs take on the Denver Nuggets.
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 1:43 PM.