Stephon Castle 2024 NBA Draft Profile

Stephon Castle 2024 NBA Draft Profile

Stephon Castle had a memorable freshman year at UConn. Nothing like spending one year in college while going out a champion. Castle was an integral part of the championship team with the Huskies, but how do his chances to succeed at the next level look? That’s why you’re here, duh, so let’s get right to the nitty gritty of the Stephon Castle 2024 NBA Draft Profile!

Height: 6’5.50″ (6’9″ wingspan, 8’6″ standing reach)

Weight: 210

Age: 19 turns 20 in November

Position: Guard

Castle, a Covington, GA native, was a five star prospect coming out of high school. Castle was rated as the 9th best player in the country during the 2023 class.

In his one year at UConn, the raw numbers are pretty damn impressive. Castle averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game as a teenager. That’s while shooting 47.2% from the field, 26.7% from 3, and 75.5% from the line.

Strengths:

This one is going to take some projection. The raw numbers while impressive aren’t exactly dominant either. He’s a combo guard that is impressive physically and can attack screens to make things happen. There is just a smooth element to his game. Castle is really good at creating his own pace. Sometimes that includes stopping on a dime to hit a mid-range shot or making the right pass to a rim running big for a score.

He’s also shown enough physically to make you think he can hold up at the next level. Castle converted 59% of his attempts at the rim and has enough juice to get there. He’s smart too and showed an ability to make good cuts to the basket.

Castle also projects strongly as a capable defender at the next level too. He has good length to him and should be able to hold his own against guards and perimeter players defensively. You can tell he’s got a feisty side to him on that side of the ball too, which is a good sign.

Weaknesses:

The sample size here just isn’t super big. Just one year of college to work with. Maybe this isn’t even a weakness but we’re not 100% sure what Castle even is. Is he a shooting guard or point guard?

That right there is the crux of the issue for Castle. There is no evidence that he will hit enough shots from the outside as a two guard. If my two guard can’t be counted on to hit open 3’s, it affects the entire team and limits floor spacing. He might be a natural point guard but we have no evidence that suggests he’s a good enough playmaker to elevate everybody else. His assist totals don’t exactly scream elite ball distributor.

The positive to all of this? He certainly had moments playmaking off the dribble while being involved in screens. His free throw percentage is also more than respectable giving you hope that he will develop into a better shooter. Jason Kidd couldn’t hit a shot from the outside either as a freshman in college.

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Projection: Top 10

Stephon Castle will likely hear his name called sometime in the top ten of this draft. It’s not a class flooded with talent so if you’re going to take a shot on someone, Castle is as good of a bet as any to develop into a top end contributor eventually.

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