Open Thread: Stephon Castle stood out in Las Vegas

Even with only one game under his belt, the young Spurs draftee has made an impression

This tweet was posted by NBA Draft Dude (@CoreyTulabaO:

“Have been so impressed by Stephon Castle’s floor game throughout Summer League. The shot making will undoubtedly be a WIP, but my goodness his ability to play with the ball in his hands is so obvious. Plays P&R with such maturity. The little nuances in his set-ups, using in-and-outs to rock his man off balance before the screen. The way he plays with pace and into space instead of forcing his way into congested areas of the floor. How tight he sticks to the screen, so he can get his man on his hip, put them in jail, play at his pace, and then use his strong frame to get to his spot and create a look for himself or his teammates. How he forces the big to guard two as he calmly gets downhill. The pound dribble right before getting into his floater to freeze the big. The live dribble passing with both hands. Still ways to go but the process has been awesome and all the tiny nuances Castle already has in his game give me so much confidence in his ability to grow into a high level NBA player.”

Video highlights from the Spurs first Las Vegas Summer League game are embedded in the tweet.

Unfortunately, Castle landed awkwardly on his wrist during his first outing in Vegas against the Portland Trail Blazers (and his old UConn teammate Donovan Clingan). It was announced that he will not anymore Summer League action.

Doris Burke and Mark Jones, who called that lone game, had nothing but positive things to say about the young man’s potential and basketball IQ.

Even Pop was glowing about his maturity and made the comment that he just needed minutes, leaving fans to believe Castle may be getting valuable time right out of the gate.

Silver & Black are 2-0 so far in Sin City.

Spurs play New Orleans tomorrow night at 9:30 on NBA-TV.

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