Spurs just came to a Stephon Castle realization they should've seen coming

For a team that is currently on pace to win 55 games, the San Antonio Spurs have some major questions, one being about guard Stephon Castle. The second-year guard is having a mostly solid sophomore season while having expanded his role.

That's all well and good, but there are also some serious concerns surrounding his game. Castle ranks among the worst shooters in the NBA, and despite having made real progress as a passer, that is a huge concern going forward.

When his shot is falling, he looks like an all-star caliber player, but he's drilling just 27.9% from three on 4.1 3-point attempts per game, and only 72.3% of his free throws are connecting.

To his credit, he is a foul-drawing machine, which is extraordinary for a 21-year-old and even leads the NBA in free throw attempts in transition.

That shows a level of craftiness that few young players have, which helps offset some of his shooting woes.

Coach Mitch Johnson has also had him play more point guard to further limit the negative impact of his shooting. That has come at the expense of De'Aaron Fox, who has had to play shooting guard, but Castle has at least improved as a passer.

All that said, if he can't hit the broadside of a barn from three, then it really hurts both his and the Spurs' ceiling.

Stephon Castle is probably never going to be a good shooter

It's not unheard of for a wing to become a star with a shaky jumper, which is why he often gets compared to Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler. However, Butler has been able to play more on-ball over his career and at least has a mid-range jumper to fall back on.

My suspicion is that the Spurs will eventually give up on the Castle at point guard experiment and have him try to play small forward. He has the size to play the three, and having a sketchy shooter there is far more common.

The problem is that if paired with Dylan Harper, who is having his own problems, and Fox, then San Antonio wouldn't have much spacing at all in that three-guard lineup. That also increases the need for the Spurs to have a shooter at power forward, and especially at center.

Luckily, we have Victor Wembanyama, with his floor spacing being absolutely crucial. Still, Castle's bad shooting puts pressure on Harper to develop into a competent shooter. Otherwise, San Antonio may continue having to play only two of Fox, Castle, and Harper at a time going forward.

Fox, Castle, and Harper starting together may never happen

It's obviously doable, but the ramifications are potentially big. If Harper is still coming off the bench in three or four years, then that could stunt his development.

After all, he has the higher ceiling between him and Castle. Castle is more versatile and can play more positions, which lends itself to coming off the bench but probably means he won't emerge as a star.

As for Fox, coming off the bench means that he probably isn't living up to his max contract. Castle coming off the bench makes more sense than the other options. Of course, him becoming at least a passable 3-point shooter would be far better since it would allow him to share the floor with Fox and Harper.

I have my doubts, but I think him following the Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray route would be more realistic. Parker and Murray were never great 3-point shooters during their time with the Spurs.

However, they developed into deadly mid-range shooters and decent spot-up 3-point shooters. Castle is already a decent spot-up 3-point shooter, connecting on 32.3% of those shots compared to 27.9% overall. That's the best-case scenario; otherwise, his fit with Spurs remains a big question mark.