Stephon Castle must solve his turnover woes to unlock his star potential

For Stephon Castle to make a big leap this season, the San Antonio Spurs will first need him to solve his turnover woes. It was Castle's biggest weakness last season, not his shooting.

Despite a strong year, Castle's turnover problems occasionally reared their ugly head. Fortunately, it's correctable and something the Spurs must nip in the bud if they want him to reach the next level.

Castle's decision-making led to some unsightly turnover numbers when he was tasked with playing point guard to start last season. In fact, he led the NBA in turnovers through the first 20 games, something that can't happen again.

Stephon Castle must solve his turnover woes to become a star

De'Aaron Fox helped Castle reign in his turnovers, but that problem returned in the Western Conference Finals. With Fox out for the first two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Castle was again asked to play point guard.

That resulted in him turning the ball over a staggering 20 times. In fact, it could be argued that if Castle didn't struggle with turnovers during Game 1 of that series, the Spurs would have won in regulation. San Antonio possibly would have also won Game 2 if they hadn't been gassed or given OKC extra possessions.

The point is that Castle coughing up possessions is a massive flaw that San Antonio has to solve. One fix is for Castle to become more familiar with the playbook and make less risky passes. Remember, last season was really his rookie year as a playmaker.

Sure, he has previous experience playing point guard, but he primarily played off-ball as a rookie. Considering he led the team in assists by averaging 7.4 dimes per game last season, he otherwise had a strong playmaking year.

However, it should be noted that whenever he played with Fox, his turnovers dropped like a stone.

There is an easy fix to Stephon Castle's turnover problems

Perhaps the best solution is the easiest one. Having Fox and Castle share playmaking responsibilities could help both players out tremendously.

Fox wasn't nearly as engaged on offense last season, with him primarily playing off-ball. Unfortunately, he's simply not a good enough 3-point shooter to make that work.

If San Antonio does a better job of splitting point guard responsibilities between the two when they share the floor, Fox could be better offensively, while Castle would have less room to make mistakes. Castle is at his best running pick and rolls and throwing lobs to Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet or passing to open shooters.

That would still be readily available to Castle and should minimize turnovers. The result would be to slash his turnovers while keeping his assists high. Were it to happen, and his shooting continues to improve, he could absolutely emerge as a star next season.

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