Brian Wright has been on an excellent run lately, and if the coming year is as successful as I think it will be, he should get an Executive of the Year award. The De'Aaron Fox deal is the latest example of his astuteness, and it makes you think about the other special decisions he's made. Not drafting anyone else from the 2024 class, despite entering that draft with two picks, is one of them.
Stephon Castle was selected number four overall, and I've never been more reassured that he was the right pick. It's not just his decisive Rookie of the Year win, either. When you look around the league at the other rookies in the class, it feels like a crapshoot for who will actually turn out to be good. There's much more confidence that Castle will continue to be an impact player.
Last year's fourth overall pick has been in the lab all summer, with videos of him working on his three-ball seeping into the internet's algorithm for Spurs fans to absorb like a symbiote. That's exactly what he needs to improve on the most, and it's nice to see that he knows that. Meanwhile, other guys who were drafted before and after him are still trying to prove that they belong.
Castle is one of the few lottery picks establishing themselves
Dalton Knecht has been so bad for the Lakers that they tried to trade him last season for Mark Williams. Williams isn't even that good. He's been largely disappointing, and LA was willing to part with their first-round pick to give him a shot before apparently changing their mind and sabotaging the deal. That probably didn't help Knecht's confidence, but things haven't been great for the former Tennessee shooter.
Sam Venecie and Bryson Simon speculated on Dalton's trade value on a recent Game Theory Podcast episode, and they agreed that the sophomore could likely be had for second-rounders. That's unfathomable. Plenty of teams need shooters, and the Spurs were definitely one of them last season. They could have tried Knecht out for that role, but the entire fan base is glad they didn't.
Castle is all they needed from that group, and his lack of participation in the Summer League last month was more proof of the confidence they have in him. The same can't be said for most of the players from last season's lottery, and while Knecht wasn't a lottery pick, he was initially projected to be. He also found himself playing SL basketball in July.
Number two overall pick Alex Sarr and the Rockets' third overall selection Reed Sheppard played in the exhibition tournament, but that's not all; Ron Holland, Rob Dillingham, Tidjane Salaun, Cody Williams II, and Matas Buzelis were other lottery picks who found themselves playing Summer League ball with guys struggling to find a home in the NBA with most bound for the G-League.
The only 2024 draftees from the first 14 picks who didn't participate were Castle, number one overall pick Zaccharie Risacher, Donovan Clingan, and Zach Edey. It's looking really shaky out there for the other guys, unless they were hurt the entire season like Nikola Topic. Steph is as steady as they come, though, and I'm sure I speak for Spurs Nation when I say that we're glad Brian Wright made that pick.