In a recent mock draft published by Sports Illustrated, the San Antonio Spurs selected Nikola Topic and Stephon Castle.
As all eyes turn to Brooklyn to watch the NBA Draft, which is more than a month away (June 26-27), the San Antonio Spurs are at the center of the world. Holding two top-ten picks in this year’s draft, the Spurs are expected to continue to surround Victor Wembanyama with young talent.
In a recent mock draft by Sports Illustrated, the Spurs select Nikola Topic, a point guard from Serbia, fourth overall and then use the Toronto Raptors’ eighth overall pick to add Stephon Castle, a guard from UConn.
We have already covered Topic and his injury concerns. Castle, the Big East Freshmen of the Year and NCAA Champion, cemented his draft status with a winning run in March Madness.
Earlier in the season, we were oozing praise for Castle early on, writing, “Castle is a high-risk, high-reward wing who can pass, but his shot has been shaky. His draft stock probably won’t be cemented until the Huskies go dancing in March.”
March has since come and gone, and Castle is a consensus top player in the 2024 Draft and will land in the lottery. He averaged 11.1 points for the Huskies and dished out 2.9 assists. His most glaring weakness was his 26.7 percent mark from deep.
Castle is a scoring guard who uses his oversized 6-6 frame and quick first step to get into the lane and find the basket. He is a solid defender who plays unselfishly, although there are legitimate concerns surrounding his ability to add a three-point shot.
Still, in a weaker draft class adding a jumbo point guard who can create for himself and kick the ball out to added shooters would not be a bad addition to the current Spurs’ roster.
