Summer league presents exciting opportunity for Stephon Castle

NBA Summer League action begins today and there's a lot to look forward to. The Spurs have an interesting group of young players who hope to make their mark in the NBA and no doubt fans have favorites they're rooting for to succeed. Last summer, Julian Champagnie and Dominick Barlow put on show after show, giving San Antonio's faithful reason to be excited in the dog days of summer.

This year, the Olympics are here—Victor Wembanyama began playing for his home country days ago—giving the fans plenty of basketball to watch while the NBA is in its offseason. The Olympic Games will undoubtedly be the focus of much attention, as Canada and France are fielding teams projected to give the US trouble. Still, the Summer League brings an opportunity for number four overall draft pick Stephon Castle that the Spurs fans should be keen on.

Stephon Castle should primarily get point guard duties

Everyone knew that the Spurs needed a point guard at the conclusion of the season. Honestly, it was clear that San Antonio needed a floor general before the season started. When the draft rolled around, they were expected to take a pure point guard or use some of the draft capital to get one. Neither of those things happened, shocking observers from media members to fans all over the NBA.

Victor Wembanyama is one of those players that basketball fans of every team have become invested in. People want to see greatness reach its potential and for Wemby to do that, he needs a good point guard. But the Spurs are always thinking forward, and since they've been watching Castle since he was in high school, they know his potential as a playmaker.

He didn't do that as much at UConn because it wasn't needed from him, but it's time to hone those skills, and Summer League is a great opportunity to begin that process. He should spend most of his time as the primary ball-handler, getting ready to learn from Chris Paul. Castle is set up to succeed in the best way possible granted he takes advantage of the situation, but he seems to have fantastic character, so there's no doubt he will do just that.

The San Antonio Spurs will tip off their first Summer League action at 7:30 pm CT today, Saturday, July 6 against the Charlotte Hornets.