Stephon Castle is making the NBA pay for leaving him wide open

Rising star Stephon Castle is having a strong start to the season for the San Antonio Spurs and is already making the NBA pay for leaving him open. The biggest knock surrounding his game entering this season was his lack of 3-point shooting.

I've always argued that he was typecast as being a bad shooter when he was simply inconsistent. The NBA is learning that Castle with a more consistent jumper is a scary sight. Through five games, he's drilling 36.6% from three on 8.2 3-point attempts.

That's a jarring change and sure to rattle teams who have been leaving him wide open. Castle's made them pay, which will hopefully force defenders to stay close to him when he's playing without the ball.

Stephon Castle is making the NBA pay for leaving him open

An underrated part of his shooting improvement is that it's made him an off-ball threat. His added spacing has allowed for De'Aaron Fox to play more on-ball, resulting in him leading the team in assists with 7.0 per game.

That alone is a huge development, with Fox now developing some much-needed chemistry with Victor Wembanyama. Having both Fox and Castle thrive playing together without having to sacrifice is crucial to the Spurs' success. So is both players being able to find Wembanyama for easy alley-oops.

Fox taking on more playmaking responsibilities is made possible by Castle's shooting improvement. Teams will eventually adjust, but if he continues to fire away and connect on a more-than-respectable percentage, it may not matter.

Stephon Castle's shooting improvement unlocks Spurs offense

Another underrated aspect of Castle's shooting improvement is that many of his shots have come from above the three-point break. That means he's taking threes from further out and is a sign that his shooting is far from simply a flash in the pan.

In fact, many of his threes have been from a couple of feet behind the top of the 3-point line. If he continues to hit those, defenders will have to guard Castle further out, which could make Area 51 all the more potent.

We've yet to see him unleash his 3-point shot while moving around screens, but he worked on that skill over the offseason. Right now, it seems he is focusing more on playing off-ball and knocking down open threes.

Stephon Castle is still honing his 3-point shooting

Once he gets that down pat, he could further expand his game by using Wembanyama or Luke Kornet screens to pull up into those. That would put opposing defenses in a bind.

Teams usually collapse and send two defenders at Wembanyama when he rolls to the rim after setting the screen. Meanwhile, Kornet sets hard picks, creating space for Castle and providing a lob threat.

Castle continuing to knock down threes and eventually incorporating shooting off the dribble into his game, could all him to punish defenses from outside. Teams who previously left him open in hopes of containing Wemby are learning the hard way that Castle will now make them pay.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow