Stephon Castle's turnover issue exposes concerning truths about Spurs' roster

Stephon Castle's turnover problem has been a glaring hindrance to the Spurs' offensive attack. He's averaging 10 per game in the first two matchups of the OKC series. Of course, he needs to tighten up on this, but there is an explanation. The De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper injuries are placing a huge burden on him as a playmaker.

Now, this isn't to say that Stephon Castle can't orchestrate the Spurs offense. He led the team in assists throughout the course of the regular season, jumping up from 4.1 as a rookie to 7.1 in his second year.

But the Spurs' offense is at its best when there are a multitude of playmaking options on the floor. There's a reason why they trusted their loaded backcourt coming into the season, and it has to come back into play at some point if they want a good shot at advancing to the Finals.

De'Aaron Fox's value shows up in these situations

De'Aaron Fox has been subject to some heavy criticisms this postseason with his on-and-off scoring, but cynics can't deny the upside with him being on the floor. The value he provides comes from his poise and maturity, and San Antonio needs a lot of that in this Thunder series.

Fox has been much better both this season and in the playoffs at keeping control of the ball than Stephon Castle, averaging 2 turnovers per game compared to Castle's 4.1. Additionally, Stephon doesn't give the ball away as much when he's paired with De'Aaron.

I'm not suggesting that Fox should siphon all ball-handling duties from Stephon Castle. But he's at his best when De'Aaron's on the floor with him as a safety net. It also allows Castle to operate as a secondary playmaker at times, rather than shouldering the burden of bringing the ball up court and initiating all of the Spurs' offensive possessions.

Dylan Harper's poise and maturity also helps

There are a lot of reasons as to why Dylan Harper is not your normal rookie. One of which is the control he plays with in high-stakes scenarios. In Game 1 of the OKC series, he posted a career-high 47 minutes and only turned the ball over once.

You can also go all the way back to the first round against the Blazers. He played 30 minutes in Game 3 of that series, scoring 27 points and again having just one turnover. At just 20 years old, the intensity of the NBA playoffs hasn't rattled him. It's quite impressive.

So you get the gist now. While Stephon Castle is great, the Spurs' offense thrives when he plays with other ball handlers who can take some pressure off of him.

This team showed they can keep things close even when they're unhealthy, but they're undoubtedly at their best when their guard trio is fully intact.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow