Castle's play may force the Spurs to make a move faster than everyone thought

With early injuries to Tre Jones and Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle has been able to play significant minutes to start the season. His logging early minutes have helped the Spurs, who haven't had a big guard capable of harassing opposing guards in a while.

He has also shown more in the way of shot creation. Although he didn't always play with the ball in his hands at UConn, Castle has point guard experience, and it shows in his skill at creating separation with nasty crossovers. He is also skilled at using hesitation dribbles to throw off his defender's timing and get into the paint.

His shot remains a work in progress, but it's safe to say that Castle is better than many reasonably expected that he would be right out of the gate. That presents the Spurs with a potential dilemma.

Stephon Castle may soon force his way into the Spurs' starting lineup

The Spurs went from having few options at point guard last season to several this season. There's Chris Paul, of course, and Jones, who is injured, but also Blake Wesley, who has been terrific defensively. Castle could eventually take Paul's place in the starting lineup at point guard but is playing backup shooting guard, at least for the time being.

If Castle continues to play well, then it would make sense for coach Gregg Popovich to consider starting him next to Paul. Vassell will soon come back, and Jeremy Sochan has played terrific, so he shouldn't be benched, and there's obviously Victor Wembanyama.

Benching Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes might seem like a bad idea, given that both are above-average shooters, but one will be heading to the bench anyway, and the second unit already doesn't have a lot of spacing. Jones, Wesley, Keldon Johnson, and Zach Collins are all below-average shooters, so moving two good shooters to the bench would help in that regard.

Starting Stephon Castle makes sense for the Spurs

The Spurs would also get another ball handler in the starting lineup and more shot creation. Paul, Castle, Vassell, and Sochan, who have looked increasingly comfortable attacking closeouts, plus Wemby, give San Antonio five players who can create shots for themselves or others. 

Defensively, Castle would get reps guarding the other team's best guard, while Paul, Vassell, Sochan, and Wembanyama are all good on that end of the floor too. That would give the Spurs balance on both ends in the starting lineup and more shooting off the bench.

Starting Castle would also come with the benefit of potentially accelerating his development, which should be a goal for this season. Therefore, the Spurs should embrace starting him going forward.