Spurs only have one option with Stephon Castle amid turnover issues

The San Antonio Spurs are entering the closing stretch of a season that will leave many pondering what could've been. Lost are the days of San Antonio realistically pursuing a postseason appearance, and a chapter has been written in their place about the pursuit of growth.

Unfortunately, the primary focal point of the Spurs' recent area of emphasis is currently hitting something of a wall—leaving only one course of action.

Since Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 regular season, San Antonio has been sent back to the drawing board. Its focus became less about winning now and more about figuring out which pieces fit where moving forward.

The primary beneficiary of that change in philosophy has been rookie Stephon Castle, who has shown remarkable potential on both ends of the floor.

In recent games, however, Castle has struggled to take care of the ball. He's committed 11 turnovers over his last two appearances, and is averaging 3.3 turnovers in just 29.3 minutes per game and 4.0 per 36 over his past 12 appearances.

If the Spurs are going to help Castle rectify this issue, then there's only one option: Allow him to play through it.

Spurs must let Stephon Castle learn from his mistakes

It'd be easy for the Spurs to dial back on Castle's usage as he figures out how to assert himself without turning the ball over as much. He is, after all, an inefficient three-point shooter who's now coming up short as far as taking care of the ball is concerned.

Castle is the most promising young active player in San Antonio, however, and there's something to be said for being allowed to play through one's mistakes.

Castle can learn from watching film and working in practice to develop healthier tendencies in the situations where he's coughing the ball up. That will be an essential element of his growth in every respect as a two-way player.

No matter how much he learns behind the scenes, however, Castle will still need to figure out how to apply the knowledge he's gained on the court.

The easiest way to clear a path for Castle in that regard is to work with him on his flaws while still rewarding him for the other areas of growth. For instance: Over his past 19 games, Castle is averaging 19.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 offensive boards, and 1.2 steals per contest on 45.2 percent shooting from the field.

Prior to this sustained period of success, he was averaging just 12.5 points, 3.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 0.8 offensive boards, and 0.9 steals per contest on 41.2 percent shooting from the floor.

Punishing a player for their turnovers when they're increasing their production by 7.0 points, 1.4 assists, 1.8 rebounds, 1.0 offensive boards, and 0.3 steals per game would be detrimental, at best. Doing so when said player has already proven to be getting a hang of how to be more efficient would be even more destructive.

Castle will make mistakes as a young player, but with nothing else to play for but the development of the up-and-comers, the Spurs need to let him play through his mistakes.