Stephon Castle's head-turning offseason workout may unlock Spurs' biggest weapon

If the San Antonio Spurs' 2026-27 season goes according to plan, Stephon Castle could emerge as a star. That could give San Antonio three All-Stars for the first time in franchise history and, equally as important, give them a big three.

San Antonio's young core of Victor Wembanyama, Castle, and Dylan Harper are their long-term big three. However, in the short term, it's Wembanyama, Castle, and De'Aaron Fox.

Fox might not be everyone's favorite player right now, but he has helped Castle make big strides as a playmaker. That has moved him one step closer to becoming the star the Silver and Black needs him to be.

Equally as important, Castle has shown steady improvement as a shooter since being drafted by the Spurs. Better yet, his shot held up surprisingly well in the playoffs.

Stephon Castle's offseason work could unlock the Spurs offense

He drilled 35% of his 4.3 3-point attempts per game in the postseason. That was hugely impactful since teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves attempted to go under when Castle was the ball handler in the pick and roll.

Teams will hopefully no longer be able to go under on screens when Castle has the ball or sag off him when he's spotting up, thus improving spacing and driving lanes. Both would be made possible by him improving as a shooter, and hopefully he'll do just that next season.

Assuming that he can replicate that over an entire season, plus the playoffs, then it could dramatically change San Antonio's offense. Entering last season, San Antonio was spacing challenged but cleverly found ways to fix that problem internally.

Castle's developing into a shooter gives the Spurs more options

One way was to bench and eventually cut Jeremy Sochan in favor of Julian Champagnie. They also had Wembanyama roll more to the rim, which resulted in a defender leaving a Spurs open in the corner, giving them plenty of high-percentage 3-point looks.

Another was to have Castle serve as point guard. That put the ball in the hands of their worst shooter and forced teams to actually guard Castle.

It just so happened that Castle emerged as San Antonio's best passer and showed that he has legit point guard chops. Despite that, if Castle's improvement as a shooter is sustainable, then he could play more off the ball, making it easier for him to get open looks from outside.

3-point shooting is the last piece to the star puzzle for Castle

It would also help Fox, who spent most of last season essentially playing shooting guard. Make no mistake, if Castle becomes a capable 3-point shooter, then he could put all the tools he already has together and become a star.

After all, he is already an elite slasher, who can easily get downhill and get to the rim at will. In addition to shooting more threes, Castle could easily attack close-outs or use off-ball screens to get momentum heading to the basket.

That doesn't close the door on him handling the ball but instead unlocks more ways to use both him, Fox, and the Spurs' offense.

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