Premature Castle/Harper legacy talk misses immediate threat Spurs' duo pose now

We have to be careful trying to assign labels to young, ascending players, especially the ones who are already defying the criticisms. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper were grouped with "The Non-shooters" on a list about what these playoffs can do for the legacy of certain guys.

Amen Thompson was placed on this very same list, along with other horrendous shooters like Dyson Daniels and Evan Mobley. It's too early to talk about legacy for these guys, and in a way, FanSided writer Michael Shearer agreed, stating, "Legacy isn't the right word for these guys," but then he followed that up by calling it an "existential crisis for an entire breed of ballers," and I can't go there either.

But overly dramatized commentary aside, I'm more thrown off by Shearer's decision to group the Slash Bros with these other players. There's an ascension happening before our eyes. It's been going on for months now, and if their shooting comes close to what it's been post-All-Star Break, the rebrand will be complete.

Harper and Castle have figured out their shooting strengths

If they were only hot for a couple of weeks, that would be a small enough sample size to dismiss. They've been blazing since mid-February, though. Castle's 42% and Harper's 48% can't be ignored when we're seeing consistency in their growth right before our eyes. Naturally, San Antonio's already strong offense got a big boost from this unexpected development.

What's fair is to acknowledge how much pressure comes with the playoff experience. The defensive intensity ramps up, and the fans are crazed from the very beginning. It got to Kon Knueppel in their first Play-In Tournament game against the Miami Heat. There's always a non-zero percentage chance that it happens to your guy, too.

We're going to lean into the optimistic side of the spectrum, though. Nobody will know for sure how they'll respond to the atmosphere until they're in it. Predictions don't play. Players do.

Now, it's unreasonable to expect either guy to maintain their same exact percentages in the postseason. But if they can just keep them in the high 30s, that will be enough. That will be devastating enough for defenses that will mostly be keying on Victor Wembanyama. This is where that gravity we've spent the second half of the season discussing really comes in handy.

As long as the big fella does exactly what fans expect him to, which is to dominate, opponents will have to collapse. The right spacing and passing should get those guys some favorable looks to help their comfort level. Based on what we've seen, my money is on them making plenty of outside shots.

So, the Spurs aren't trying to win with non-shooters on the floor. That classification doesn't apply to these guys.

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