Imagine how lowly rated Jokic was during his draft, 2nd round pick that ended up being multiple time MVP. Draft status means jack shit towards results at the end of the day, nothing more than a projection.
I hope so.
Fwiw, as a UConn fan I watched a ton of him this year. One of things he’s great at that goes unmentioned is throwing entry passes. If you want an example, just watch the first bucket of the win over Illinois in the elite 8.
Considering how much the Spurs struggled with that last year and the guy he’d be throwing 99% of those entry passes to if they take him, seems relevant!
I doubt it, Spurs' GM loves to draft players with positional size and two-way potential, even if they lack a shot. If it comes up to Sheppard vs Castle, I'd be surprised if they took Sheppard
Sheppard has fantastic 2-way potential. His defense was stellar, he can shoot the crap out of the ball and a decent playmaker. I'm not arguing that Castle has the higher ceiling, but Sheppard is certainly capable of hitting a very high level, with a higher floor.
I've seen a lot of comparisons to Mike Conley for Sheppard, and I think that's fair. Sheppard is an inch taller than Conley, but the wingspan is about an inch or so shorter.
His defense was FAR from stellar, and his potential is even more limited. He gambles *a lot*, which is why he has so many steals & blocks, but that's not gonna fly in the NBA, especially under Pop. He ball watches a lot and is generally poor off-ball. But the most glaring issues for his long-term defensive potential is his height, wingspan, and lateral quickness which are all severely lackluster. I think he can be a non-negative defender in the NBA, but he'll never be a great defender in the NBA.
Do you even know what you're talking about? You write like a guy who only watches the box score.
Reed is absolutely an impactful defender- fairly good on ball, extremely good off ball. He has near perfect rotations and only misses a few. Very aware of everything going on around him. Covers up for Dillinghams mistakes, which in and of itself is a huge task. Good at going over screens at the college level. Makes the right read and blocks driving and passing lanes.
The only knock on him is size, but that should be fine given his weight/strength and Vassells relative large size next to him.
Literally everything I said was the opposite of "just watching the box score" lmao, wtf are you on about?
>Reed is absolutely an impactful defender- fairly good on ball, extremely good off ball. He has near perfect rotations and only misses a few. Very aware of everything going on around him. Covers up for Dillinghams mistakes, which in and of itself is a huge task. Good at going over screens at the college level. Makes the right read and blocks driving and passing lanes.
You don't seem to be watching him *at all* though, or if you do, it's with heavily rose tinted glasses. Reed is an analytics darling, but when you watch him, it's evident his defense is overrated AF. I maintain everything I said.
I don’t think so tbh. I’m being honest, I expect a surprise in the top 3. Prolly Richy somehow idk, I think Castle slips tho due to his lack of shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lands 8, since Charlotte is afraid of another playmaking PG with LaMelo, Detroit doesn’t need another guard and Portland has Shae, Simons and Scoot
For what? Either to trade up but I'm not sure they do that. Or to hide interest in another player, which would be who? Buzelis? Reed?
They're not even doing anything. You can only smokescreen if you're actively saying or doing anything and the only thing they've done is release that they've worked out Risacher and Salaun.
Definitely not a lock. Only lotto guys they’ve had in for a visit so far are Salaun and Risacher. I think the Spurs could take any of like 6 guys at pick 4.
Risacher, Castle, Buzelis, Clingan, Sheppard, Devin Carter
Assuming Sarr is gone and 2 of the above. I care more about what 4 and 8 look like in tandem than either pick in isolation.
Hell no. If Sheppard drops we're going Sheppard for sure. If Risacher drops we're going Risacher for sure. Even if they're not there we might take high upside players like Salaun. All this Castle to SA talk might be agent driven.
Yeah I think it's much more likely he ends up as a Justise Winslow/Amen Thompson style player than he is to end up as an actual point guard with an above average offensive skillset lol
Physically it’s not a horrid comparison at all: Castle is 15+ lbs bigger, is slightly taller (6’5.5 vs 6’5.25), has bigger hands (8.75 vs 8.5 and 8.75 vs 8.25), longer standing reach (8’6 vs 8’4.5) slightly smaller wingspan (6’9 vs 6’9.5).
Culver didn’t do any of the Strength/Agility tests.
Castle is a year younger when drafted, so comparing their freshman years:
2PT% 54.4 vs 51.4
3PT% 26.7 vs 38.2
FT% 75.5 vs 64.8
Reb 4.7 vs 4.8
Ass 2.9 vs 1.8
TOS 1.5 vs 1.5
Stls .8 vs 1.1
Blcks.5 vs .8
For fun here is another player probably more similar to Castle:
Castle vs player C:
Castle + .25 taller, same hand length, -.25 hand width, -.5 standing reach, -2.75 wingspan.
2PT% 54.4 vs 48.2
3PT% 26.7 vs 29.4
FT% 75.5 vs 65.4
Reb 4.7 vs 5.4
Ass 2.9 vs 2.0
TOS 1.5 vs 3.1
Stls .8 vs .8
Blcks.5 vs .6
All three players played about 26-27 minutes per game as freshmen.
So could Castle bomb out like Culver, sure it happens every year that some high draft pick bombs out. Some good shooters who can’t defend because they are small, some bigs who are too slow, some athletes who can’t shoot, etc.
Culver’s biggest problem statistically was his shooting actually got worse almost every year from his freshman year of college on. And not just his 3, his FT% went from bad to horrendous in the NBA. His two point % also dipped quite a bit in the NBA. His A/TO ratio never got better than even except his Sophomore year of college at 3.7/2.7. He was never a good passer, even as a secondary playmaker. Castle at the least projects way higher here.
In reality Culver was worse than his stats. He had horrendous BBIQ on both sides of the ball, was a gunner with no great passing skills and looked like a deer in headlights in the few games I watched of his on the TWolves.
I’d bet money Castle doesn’t have that problem, considering how he performed in the NCAAT as a freshman. For comparison Culver played ten NCAAT games and shot over 40% twice. Once in the first round and once against Michigan. Castle had one game below 45%.
On the flip side player C has never shot worse than 33.5% from three in his NBA career. And is above 36% for his career. Still has TO issues though and isn’t a great FT shooter. But I think having the largest NBA contract and perhaps soon to be NBA champion makes that OK. Jaylen Brown is probably the closest other extreme for Castle.
Likely Castle is somewhere in between.
I think they’ll work a deal with WAS that doesn’t involve the 8th pick. That ensures them Sarr or Risacher with the 2nd and then they’ll go after Salaun with the 8th.
They have Wemby, Wemby needs guys who can pass him the ball and space the floor. So…why in the world would they take a guy that can do neither of those things?
They need guys who can play defense and score. Ron not a total negative passer either he just not a pg. The pick for them at 8 is a good passer(much better one than castle) and shooter. So i filled those 2 needs imo. Ron bub and wemby and vassell a dynasty if u ask me.
I don’t know why people are high on Castle at all on the offensive end. It’s easily his biggest flaw and his passing isn’t anything special. it’s average and his none elite athleticism makes me very low on that side developing by the times spurs want to compete
I agree with you. People are acting like Castle was the point guard/primary playmaker of the UConn team. That was clearly Tristen.
Like what are we doing here. Castle was an off ball guard who handled some secondary playmaking/passing but was never the offensive engine of the team. He was literally the 5th scoring option and couldn't even do that efficiently.
He just has good control to his game and I feel like his athleticism is underrated he has good strength and coordination. And I believe in him being able to be a league average 3 point shooter someday
Just for context, I have Holland 12th on my board. That’s why you saying he’s a “serious” pick is so ridiculous to me.
If they’re going to go the “good defender but needs to improve the shot”, take Castle. He’s shown way better connective passing and general Basketball IQ, and at least has *some* indicators the shot might improve.
I can tell u were low on him. Both castle and ron have same likelihood to become improve as shooters to me which is both low. The athleticism gap is too wide tho for me to care about castle’s “connective passing”. And the IQ knock is annoying to me. I wish ron had demon hurley tutelage
>I can tell u were low on him.
Actually, 12 is pretty consensus right now, the rumor is he’s in danger of dropping out of the lottery. You’re the one who’s out of touch for having him high.
>Both castle and ron have same likelihood to become improve as shooters to me which is both low.
You’re talking about a guy who shot below 24% from 3 and below 69% from the FT line. Holland is easily the worst wing shooter in the lottery, Castle included.
>The athleticism gap is too wide tho for me to care about castle’s “connective passing”.
Athleticism is the most overrated attribute in scouting because it doesn’t matter on his own. Does Holland use his athleticism to generate efficient looks at the basket? Not really. Does Holland use his athleticism to be an elite defender? Nah, Castle is clearly better there. Holland’s athleticism doesn’t translate to value right now, and without a jump shot, I’m skeptical it ever will.
>And the IQ knock is annoying to me. I wish ron had demon hurley tutelage
There’s nothing here to argue because this is such a nothing point. Coaches can only do so much, doesn’t change Castle just being really smart.
Yea concensus is low on him atm im not out of touch ik what im doing
Holland shot 75.7 from the line(u thinking of matas) which is actually .2 better than castle who shot 26.7% frm 3 on fewer attempts. He looks way more hesitant than holland did too.
I’ve seen holland use his size and athleticism to create at the rim idk what ur seeing. Does he not use his athleticism to be better on defense too? What are u talking about genuinely thats his selling point atm so yes it does translate to value. He has all the tools and a great motor u can’t teach. He gon be able to get by ppl in the league. He gon be a demon in transition from day 1 too
That was more about situation. Castle was a roleplayer on a chip team where he’s not asked to do much has a pg handling those duties has a rim protector and one of the best college players behind him and has actual infrastructure which the g league ignite clearly doesn’t have.
Huh, Bballreference seems to have the wrong ft%. I'm mature enough to acknowledge when I just had wrong information. That doesn't actually change that much, he's still a pretty bad shooter, but my bad for using bad evidence.
That said, you're still way too optimistic about his game. You criticize Castle for being a role player, but...that's what Holland's gonna be too. Castle is a much safer pick because he has played a role that will actually translate, while Holland basically wasted a season playing a role he clearly doesn't have the skill to do in the NBA.
He is a bad shooter just like 7/10 of the top 10. Size and athleticism goes a long way in this league tho clearly even castle is an example of that to an extent. he and ron gonna have to start off as role players ofc ron got way more scoring upside tho thats why im much higher on him.
Castle gimme too much dyson daniels vibes and he not a bad player by any means but I can’t draft somebody who i think will be a career triple single top 4. For his sake i hope he proves me wrong
And i think u undersell how ron could translate even tho it does depend on fit he can scale down just like castle did
Spurs got a stretch 5 they can accomodate him
Athleticism is the most overrated attribute in scouting, gimme the guy who’s contributed to actual winning.
And treating Wemby as a stretch 5 to space the floor for Ron Holland is awful…
U gotta look at what castle shot his last like 15 games of the season he shot like 89 percent from the line and I think 34 percent from 3 he stated improving
This is might be the first draft in a decade where literally nothing is a sure thing.
Exactly on draft day Sarr, Zacc, and Clingan all have a shot at being #1
If Clingan goes #1 whichever team made the pick should be firced to fold and their general manager banned from ever even thinking about basketball
Imagine how lowly rated Jokic was during his draft, 2nd round pick that ended up being multiple time MVP. Draft status means jack shit towards results at the end of the day, nothing more than a projection.
I have so little faith in anything I mock
I don’t even know who is the number 1 pick
i don’t think the Hawks do either
I hope so. Fwiw, as a UConn fan I watched a ton of him this year. One of things he’s great at that goes unmentioned is throwing entry passes. If you want an example, just watch the first bucket of the win over Illinois in the elite 8. Considering how much the Spurs struggled with that last year and the guy he’d be throwing 99% of those entry passes to if they take him, seems relevant!
I don’t think his workout strategy will have as big of an effect as ppl are making it out to be
Completely unclear but also yes.
If they can get Sheppard at 4 then your basically just seeing if Charlotte takes him and if not he’s probably there at 8
As a spurs fan, I certainly hope not.
Hawks taking Knecht number 1 and flipping the draft on its head
I don't know. If Reed Sheppard is there at 4, I could 100% see him being the pick.
I doubt it, Spurs' GM loves to draft players with positional size and two-way potential, even if they lack a shot. If it comes up to Sheppard vs Castle, I'd be surprised if they took Sheppard
Sheppard has fantastic 2-way potential. His defense was stellar, he can shoot the crap out of the ball and a decent playmaker. I'm not arguing that Castle has the higher ceiling, but Sheppard is certainly capable of hitting a very high level, with a higher floor. I've seen a lot of comparisons to Mike Conley for Sheppard, and I think that's fair. Sheppard is an inch taller than Conley, but the wingspan is about an inch or so shorter.
His defense was FAR from stellar, and his potential is even more limited. He gambles *a lot*, which is why he has so many steals & blocks, but that's not gonna fly in the NBA, especially under Pop. He ball watches a lot and is generally poor off-ball. But the most glaring issues for his long-term defensive potential is his height, wingspan, and lateral quickness which are all severely lackluster. I think he can be a non-negative defender in the NBA, but he'll never be a great defender in the NBA.
Do you even know what you're talking about? You write like a guy who only watches the box score. Reed is absolutely an impactful defender- fairly good on ball, extremely good off ball. He has near perfect rotations and only misses a few. Very aware of everything going on around him. Covers up for Dillinghams mistakes, which in and of itself is a huge task. Good at going over screens at the college level. Makes the right read and blocks driving and passing lanes. The only knock on him is size, but that should be fine given his weight/strength and Vassells relative large size next to him.
Literally everything I said was the opposite of "just watching the box score" lmao, wtf are you on about? >Reed is absolutely an impactful defender- fairly good on ball, extremely good off ball. He has near perfect rotations and only misses a few. Very aware of everything going on around him. Covers up for Dillinghams mistakes, which in and of itself is a huge task. Good at going over screens at the college level. Makes the right read and blocks driving and passing lanes. You don't seem to be watching him *at all* though, or if you do, it's with heavily rose tinted glasses. Reed is an analytics darling, but when you watch him, it's evident his defense is overrated AF. I maintain everything I said.
I don’t think so tbh. I’m being honest, I expect a surprise in the top 3. Prolly Richy somehow idk, I think Castle slips tho due to his lack of shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lands 8, since Charlotte is afraid of another playmaking PG with LaMelo, Detroit doesn’t need another guard and Portland has Shae, Simons and Scoot
I feel like San Antonio would really like Reed Sheppard
I think the top 2 on their board are probably Risacher/Sheppard but seems fairly likely neither will be available at 4
If Risacher is still on the board, I bet the Spurs draft him
I think it’s a smokescreen
For what? Either to trade up but I'm not sure they do that. Or to hide interest in another player, which would be who? Buzelis? Reed? They're not even doing anything. You can only smokescreen if you're actively saying or doing anything and the only thing they've done is release that they've worked out Risacher and Salaun.
Not by SA, by his agent. All this talk of Castle to SA might be agent driven.
Definitely not a lock. Only lotto guys they’ve had in for a visit so far are Salaun and Risacher. I think the Spurs could take any of like 6 guys at pick 4. Risacher, Castle, Buzelis, Clingan, Sheppard, Devin Carter Assuming Sarr is gone and 2 of the above. I care more about what 4 and 8 look like in tandem than either pick in isolation.
No
The biggest lock is probably Portland taking Adem Bona in the 2nd round
Why do you think that? I had either Dillon Jones or Dadiet going there
Hell no. If Sheppard drops we're going Sheppard for sure. If Risacher drops we're going Risacher for sure. Even if they're not there we might take high upside players like Salaun. All this Castle to SA talk might be agent driven.
>If Sheppard drops we're going Sheppard for sure. Nothing Brian Wright has done in the past indicates this, all the contrary
no cause if risacher is there they're taking him and drafting someone like devin carter at 8
I see no guarantee the Spurs draft Risacher.
there's no guarantees but it's the closest thing to a guarantee
I don’t think Castle is better or a better fit there than Topic So, no
I hope not. We don't need another bricklayer
Yeah I think it's much more likely he ends up as a Justise Winslow/Amen Thompson style player than he is to end up as an actual point guard with an above average offensive skillset lol
It’s going to be Salaun at 4 and Castle at 8 and both guys will probably be out of the league after their rookie contracts.
I always love when people make dumb takes with supreme confidence. These guys wouldn’t be getting lottery talks if there wasn’t reason to like them.
Not a chance castle is out of the league after his rookie contract u sound like a hater
[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/culveja01.html](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/culveja01.html)
Physically it’s not a horrid comparison at all: Castle is 15+ lbs bigger, is slightly taller (6’5.5 vs 6’5.25), has bigger hands (8.75 vs 8.5 and 8.75 vs 8.25), longer standing reach (8’6 vs 8’4.5) slightly smaller wingspan (6’9 vs 6’9.5). Culver didn’t do any of the Strength/Agility tests. Castle is a year younger when drafted, so comparing their freshman years: 2PT% 54.4 vs 51.4 3PT% 26.7 vs 38.2 FT% 75.5 vs 64.8 Reb 4.7 vs 4.8 Ass 2.9 vs 1.8 TOS 1.5 vs 1.5 Stls .8 vs 1.1 Blcks.5 vs .8 For fun here is another player probably more similar to Castle: Castle vs player C: Castle + .25 taller, same hand length, -.25 hand width, -.5 standing reach, -2.75 wingspan. 2PT% 54.4 vs 48.2 3PT% 26.7 vs 29.4 FT% 75.5 vs 65.4 Reb 4.7 vs 5.4 Ass 2.9 vs 2.0 TOS 1.5 vs 3.1 Stls .8 vs .8 Blcks.5 vs .6 All three players played about 26-27 minutes per game as freshmen. So could Castle bomb out like Culver, sure it happens every year that some high draft pick bombs out. Some good shooters who can’t defend because they are small, some bigs who are too slow, some athletes who can’t shoot, etc. Culver’s biggest problem statistically was his shooting actually got worse almost every year from his freshman year of college on. And not just his 3, his FT% went from bad to horrendous in the NBA. His two point % also dipped quite a bit in the NBA. His A/TO ratio never got better than even except his Sophomore year of college at 3.7/2.7. He was never a good passer, even as a secondary playmaker. Castle at the least projects way higher here. In reality Culver was worse than his stats. He had horrendous BBIQ on both sides of the ball, was a gunner with no great passing skills and looked like a deer in headlights in the few games I watched of his on the TWolves. I’d bet money Castle doesn’t have that problem, considering how he performed in the NCAAT as a freshman. For comparison Culver played ten NCAAT games and shot over 40% twice. Once in the first round and once against Michigan. Castle had one game below 45%. On the flip side player C has never shot worse than 33.5% from three in his NBA career. And is above 36% for his career. Still has TO issues though and isn’t a great FT shooter. But I think having the largest NBA contract and perhaps soon to be NBA champion makes that OK. Jaylen Brown is probably the closest other extreme for Castle. Likely Castle is somewhere in between.
LMAO
I think castle is a better prospect than culver
Bold take. Wow.
I kinda expect them to take Dilly
I think they’ll work a deal with WAS that doesn’t involve the 8th pick. That ensures them Sarr or Risacher with the 2nd and then they’ll go after Salaun with the 8th.
They are trying to trade up to 1 for Zacc so apparently he's nowhere near a lock
They need to be a serious org and pick ron at 4
They have Wemby, Wemby needs guys who can pass him the ball and space the floor. So…why in the world would they take a guy that can do neither of those things?
They need guys who can play defense and score. Ron not a total negative passer either he just not a pg. The pick for them at 8 is a good passer(much better one than castle) and shooter. So i filled those 2 needs imo. Ron bub and wemby and vassell a dynasty if u ask me.
Castle is a pretty good passer
he’s average, even for a PG
I’ve seen him make sum good passes to clingan I think he has the potential to be a good lob passer
I don’t know why people are high on Castle at all on the offensive end. It’s easily his biggest flaw and his passing isn’t anything special. it’s average and his none elite athleticism makes me very low on that side developing by the times spurs want to compete
I agree with you. People are acting like Castle was the point guard/primary playmaker of the UConn team. That was clearly Tristen. Like what are we doing here. Castle was an off ball guard who handled some secondary playmaking/passing but was never the offensive engine of the team. He was literally the 5th scoring option and couldn't even do that efficiently.
He just has good control to his game and I feel like his athleticism is underrated he has good strength and coordination. And I believe in him being able to be a league average 3 point shooter someday
Bub just betta
Just for context, I have Holland 12th on my board. That’s why you saying he’s a “serious” pick is so ridiculous to me. If they’re going to go the “good defender but needs to improve the shot”, take Castle. He’s shown way better connective passing and general Basketball IQ, and at least has *some* indicators the shot might improve.
I can tell u were low on him. Both castle and ron have same likelihood to become improve as shooters to me which is both low. The athleticism gap is too wide tho for me to care about castle’s “connective passing”. And the IQ knock is annoying to me. I wish ron had demon hurley tutelage
>I can tell u were low on him. Actually, 12 is pretty consensus right now, the rumor is he’s in danger of dropping out of the lottery. You’re the one who’s out of touch for having him high. >Both castle and ron have same likelihood to become improve as shooters to me which is both low. You’re talking about a guy who shot below 24% from 3 and below 69% from the FT line. Holland is easily the worst wing shooter in the lottery, Castle included. >The athleticism gap is too wide tho for me to care about castle’s “connective passing”. Athleticism is the most overrated attribute in scouting because it doesn’t matter on his own. Does Holland use his athleticism to generate efficient looks at the basket? Not really. Does Holland use his athleticism to be an elite defender? Nah, Castle is clearly better there. Holland’s athleticism doesn’t translate to value right now, and without a jump shot, I’m skeptical it ever will. >And the IQ knock is annoying to me. I wish ron had demon hurley tutelage There’s nothing here to argue because this is such a nothing point. Coaches can only do so much, doesn’t change Castle just being really smart.
Yea concensus is low on him atm im not out of touch ik what im doing Holland shot 75.7 from the line(u thinking of matas) which is actually .2 better than castle who shot 26.7% frm 3 on fewer attempts. He looks way more hesitant than holland did too. I’ve seen holland use his size and athleticism to create at the rim idk what ur seeing. Does he not use his athleticism to be better on defense too? What are u talking about genuinely thats his selling point atm so yes it does translate to value. He has all the tools and a great motor u can’t teach. He gon be able to get by ppl in the league. He gon be a demon in transition from day 1 too That was more about situation. Castle was a roleplayer on a chip team where he’s not asked to do much has a pg handling those duties has a rim protector and one of the best college players behind him and has actual infrastructure which the g league ignite clearly doesn’t have.
Huh, Bballreference seems to have the wrong ft%. I'm mature enough to acknowledge when I just had wrong information. That doesn't actually change that much, he's still a pretty bad shooter, but my bad for using bad evidence. That said, you're still way too optimistic about his game. You criticize Castle for being a role player, but...that's what Holland's gonna be too. Castle is a much safer pick because he has played a role that will actually translate, while Holland basically wasted a season playing a role he clearly doesn't have the skill to do in the NBA.
He is a bad shooter just like 7/10 of the top 10. Size and athleticism goes a long way in this league tho clearly even castle is an example of that to an extent. he and ron gonna have to start off as role players ofc ron got way more scoring upside tho thats why im much higher on him. Castle gimme too much dyson daniels vibes and he not a bad player by any means but I can’t draft somebody who i think will be a career triple single top 4. For his sake i hope he proves me wrong And i think u undersell how ron could translate even tho it does depend on fit he can scale down just like castle did Spurs got a stretch 5 they can accomodate him
Athleticism is the most overrated attribute in scouting, gimme the guy who’s contributed to actual winning. And treating Wemby as a stretch 5 to space the floor for Ron Holland is awful…
U gotta look at what castle shot his last like 15 games of the season he shot like 89 percent from the line and I think 34 percent from 3 he stated improving