Spurs must stick with Stephon Castle experiment after seeing it in action

Third-year San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle is being asked to play a new role and must see it through for the team to thrive. He has been tasked with playing more off-ball compared to his sophomore season.

As a result, Castle's play has been far more inconsistent as he adjusts to a new role. Although he played primarily off ball as a rookie, he thrived playing point guard last season, even leading the team in total assists and assists per game.

However, with him now playing with two other point guards, he is being tasked with spotting up more. That has forced him to rely more on 3-point shooting than ever before, and it's been a work in progress.

Spurs must stick with Stephon Castle off-ball experiment

He started the season drilling five threes against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Castle quickly came down to earth. Castle connected on just 23 of his next 69 in the 12 games that followed.

Fortunately, he got back on track, drilling five threes against the Golden State Warriors to break out of his shooting slump. Still, it's going to be hit or miss for Castle this season.

The Spurs need him to adjust his game if they want to make their three-point guard lineup work long term. It's a work in progress, with him draining 34.6% of his 6.4 3-point attempts per game thus far.

That's bordering on respectable but the Spurs need him to be better for them to live up to their full potential.

It's not just his 3-point shooting; it's his finishing at the rim that's up in the air. He's connecting on just 56.1% of his shots at the rim. That is down almost 12% from last season.

Stephon Castle is still growing in his new role with the Spurs

Castle is also taking more shots between 3 and 10 feet and shooting a mediocre 44.1% on 2.5 attempts per game. To his credit, he is shooting 50% on 1.1 mid-range jumpers per game.

The general gist is that he is shooting poorly on 2-point attempts, especially at the rim. He can't struggle both inside and out, and the Spurs need him to be better at finishing at the basket and at least slightly better as a shooter.

It seems reasonable that he improve his finishing and will hopefully find his groove as a shooter. Were that the case, he would be more consistent, and the Spurs are counting on it. In the meantime, they appear willing to give it time.

Having him play more off-ball has freed up De'Aaron Fox to actually play point guard and finally develop chemistry with Victor Wembanyama. It has also made starting Dylan Harper possible, and he's currently second on the team in scoring.

All that the Spurs need is for Castle to hit his stride. He can do that by being a moderately good high-volume 3-point shooter and improving to the mean as a finisher to excel in his new role.

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