Stephon Castle revealed compelling Spurs truth amid stellar Nuggets game

Stephon Castle has been one-of-one this season. Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cade Cunningham, and a handful of others felt the wrath of his defensive genius through their battles with him. He's done more than enough to establish himself as one of the most stifling guards on that end of the floor.

But his performance against the Denver Nuggets was even more of a showstopper. He posted his second career 30-plus-point triple-double, giving a firsthand look at what can happen when he fully rounds out his all-around offensive game.

A promising display of elite playmaking

Castle's seven assists per game lead the Spurs through the season, and Thursday's performance was a continuation of his speedy development as a table setter. He put on a masterclass of penetrate-and-kick offense, slicing through the paint and reading defenders to find teammates for perimeter shots or cuts to the rim.

This is the next step in Stephon's game: truly orchestrating an offense. Seeing him get into high screen-and-roll actions, read the low man, and spray crisp passes to teammates last night was extremely promising and showed glimpses of future elite point guard production.

A lot of that can be attributed to De'Aaron Fox. He took a bit of a step back through the season to give Castle the space to operate and develop as a lead ball handler.

Stephon has been an unselfish player since his time in college, but here we see him as a beneficiary of someone else's unselfishness. Fox helped him gain much-needed reps as an orchestrator, and it paid off dividends in Thursday's game.

The jump shot is becoming scary

Not only was last night's matchup against Denver a playmaking clinic for the second-year guard, but he also put on one of the better three-point shooting displays of his career. He drained 4/8 of his shots from downtown, adding to a trend of elite shooting through the last month or so. He's putting in 37.5% of his threes through the Spurs' last 17 games.

San Antonio is 15-2 through that 17-game stretch, so it's safe to say that this team is better off when Castle's hitting his jump shot. He is the premier X-factor for this group with what he can do from an all-around standpoint, so getting him to drain his shots makes him one of the most dangerous multi-purpose players in the NBA.

A good chunk of his scoring this season comes in transition, which is great, but as we all know, the game slows down in the postseason. That will be a major point of adjustment for this young Spurs core that isn't largely battle-tested in the playoffs.

Castle's ability to knock down shots off the catch in the half-court is going to be the ultimate equalizer for the Spurs' offense on that playoff stage. When it becomes more of a half-court game, Stephon must be a real threat as a floor spacer. Luckily, he's heating up at just the right time.

Stephon Castle has been showing flashes of offensive brilliance through the entirety of the season, and Thursday's performance against Denver was yet another example of this. It was his third triple-double this season, so we've gotten more than enough hints at the type of player he can become in the future.