Stephon Castle's next offensive leap will turn skeptics into believers

Stephon Castle is already off to an amazing start in his first postseason appearance, but there's a glaring improvement he can make that'll take him to the next level. Adding a reliable three-point shot off the dribble will turn him into one of the most unstoppable lead guards the NBA has to offer.

Now, I want to give Castle as much credit as possible for where he's currently at. The second-year guard increased his scoring average from his rookie season and even became a reliable playmaker, leading the Spurs in assists per game and total assists through the year.

But it's never too early to look into the crystal ball and envision the type of player Stephon can mold into beyond just this season. His upside is intriguing; he needs to keep tapping into it.

Stephon Castle has already shown flashes of three-point proficiency

One of the most glaring improvements from Castle this season was actually his three-point shooting. Now, if you look at his average through the entire year, he only made 33% of his looks. But things get interesting when you look at his post-All-Star stretch. He drained 41% of his perimeter shots through that span of time.

That's carrying over into the postseason as well. He had multiple games in the first round in which he made two or more of his looks from downtown and went 40% for the entire series. So he's actually proven he can reliably knock down shots from range.

But it's how he gets those shots that I'd love to see growth in. Right now, a good amount of his opportunities come off the catch, which is great for his fit in the backcourt with De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper.

If he can add a polished, self-created off-the-dribble three, he's even more of a threat against opposing defenses. It gives him much more variety in his scoring attack, along with his ability to get downhill.

This improvement makes Castle and Wemby a scarier pick and roll duo

Castle's potential leap as an off-the-dribble three-point shooter makes his pick-and-roll attack with Victor Wembanyama even more intimidating. Opposing defenses would have to adjust their strategy against these two if Stephon can improve his ability to turn off screens and knock down looks off the bounce.

One of the most common ways for teams to defend Castle as the ball handler in the high pick-and-roll is with drop coverage. The screener's defender can feel comfortable sagging back a bit, forcing Castle to create off the dribble while he covers ground.

He can totally neutralize this with a lethal pull-up three-point shot, and it'll open up so much more of the Spurs' offense, especially his two-man game with Wemby. Stephon's already made leaps this past season with his mid-range creation, so extending his range will go a long way.

Castle's continued growth as a shooter is the next step in his development as one of the most complete guards the NBA has to offer. The good thing is this: you can count on him to make big leaps this offseason based on the drastic improvements from his first year to his second.

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