2024 NBA Draft scouting report: Stephon Castle

Castle is a hometown kid who brings a big lunch pail to games.

It’s hard to argue against Stephon Castle’s reputation as a ‘winner’ in such a short college career, forming a big part of a team that went a dominating 37-3 this past season. Per Kenpom, the UConn Huskies had the best offense and the fourth-best defense in the nation in 2023-24.

Castle hails from nearby Covington, Georgia, but committed to the then reigning champion (and now two-time reigning champion) UConn Huskies. He was ranked a 5-star combo guard in the high school class of 2023 by 247 Sports, and so he always seemed destined to being a one-and-done prospect in what looks like a weaker draft class than average.

But some see his production in college as underwhelming and ding him accordingly on mock draft boards. In his one season in Storrs, Connecticut, he averaged 11 points, five rebounds and three assists per game.

Still, Castle is getting high-lottery buzz as we come down the stretch of the draft cycle in 2024. Just how high can a defensive-minded guard with questionable ability to lead an NBA offense go in the 2024 NBA Draft?

Offense

Castle is a 6-foot-6, 210-pound (per the measurements from the NBA Combine) guard who wouldn’t look out of place in a lineup of NBA wings. He looks and plays a lot stronger than the 180-pound figure he was listed at for college, and credibly lined up at the 1, the 2, and the 3 at times for the Huskies.

On the ball, Castle shows some flashes, but he wasn’t asked to do much in that he rarely played as a true point guard last season. He has a tight enough handle and some shiftiness to create space off the bounce, but without a reliable pull up jumper game yet, teams are happy to go under screens and force him into crowds in the lane.

Castle only attempted 2.2 threes per game, hitting just 27% of them, but his free throw percentage was a healthier 76%, suggesting there is some opportunity to become at least a league-average shooter from deep. At the very least, at the NBA level where spacing is everything, he’ll be asked to spot up in the corner and above the break for standstill threes to begin his career.

The good is that he properly sees himself as a slasher when creating for himself, using big body to create space. And since he has no problem playing with physicality, he has gained the ability to use a subtle off arm or shoulder shove to get up a shot near the rim. Castle finished 63% of his attempts at the rim, a strong mark for a guard.

The bad is that even his catch-and-shoot game isn’t up to par. His shot mechanics tend to go awry with differing releases from his low windup.

His overall feel for the game not quite there offensively. It’s clear he doesn’t read the floor as well as some of the other top guards in this class outside of the (admittedly very layered) structure of the UConn offense, where specific movements were preprogrammed.

It is encouraging he generally stuck to the script, registering 4.3 assists to just 2.2 turnovers per 40 minutes, right at a 2:1 ratio. But when operating ad hoc, he occasionally commits sloppy turnovers, whether by driving into traffic, misreading passing lane defenders, or by dishing out-of-sync passes out of the short roll.

Speaking of which, off the ball Castle screened and short rolled more than any guard I can remember recently coming out of college. In this sense, he operated as an “inverse” pick-and-roll player quite often. He makes timely back cuts — a staple in the Huskies’ offense — and is often seen communicating and directing traffic for his teammates to do the same when space in the lane opens up.

Overall, he a good enough processor to see the floor, especially with NBA-level spacing, and makes timely passes when not overburdened with creating. But he will need reps to function as a primary at the next level, something he reportedly insists he wants to be.

Still, his likely best path is the settle in as a secondary creator before making that step up to being an offensive focal point.

Defense

On this side of the ball is where Castle really shines. He’s as polished and promising a defensive prospect as there exists in this class among perimeter players. With a 6-foot-9 wingspan and an 8-foot-6 standing reach, Castle has no problem matching up against bigger wings if necessary.

He possesses quick hips for changing direction and jumping over screens. He trails ball handlers coming off screens well, staying attached as well as anyone I’ve scouted in the recent batch of draft classes. It’s nearly impossible to get by him as a smaller guard or over the top of him as a bigger guard — one of the many physical advantages he had over the entirety of college basketball last season.

Here he is picking up Northwestern guard Boo Buie, a 20-point-per-game scorer, at halfcourt and absolutely stifling him into giving up the ball.

And it’s difficult to get through him as well, with the selflessness to give up his body for a stop.

UConn schemes to go over most perimeter screens. They ran an aggressive ball pressure defense where perimeter players followed ball handlers over screens and collapsed the paint with center Donovan Clingan as the backline eraser.

In this clip, Castle trails off the ball and keeps his man out of the middle for a tough baseline push shot.

Away from the ball, Castle isn’t much of a defensive disruptor, although that was by design under head coach Dan Hurley. He recorded just two steals and blocks per 40 minutes combined, preferring to avoid gambles in favor of staying in front of his man at all costs.

Even still, he does a good job tracking balls going up with both his eye-hand coordination to swat the occasional shot.

For him to be a truly elite defender at the next level, he’ll need to be a bit more active off the ball and look to erase plays before they begin. But that sentiment is paramount to splitting hairs — he’s already an elite point-of-attack defender with many Jrue Holiday-like moments as a freshman in college. His defensive role won’t look to change at the next level, using his size, strength, and quickness to prevent ball handlers from getting to their spots and breaking the rest of the defense down.

Final Thoughts

If you hadn’t heard by now, the Hawks own the first pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and, well, no picks beyond the first slot this year. It’s certainly possible to invest this pick in Castle, a young moldable guard with size and upside. The Hawks would almost certainly have to deal either Trae Young and Dejounte Murray to open up minutes for him, something they may end up doing in July regardless, but if the organization thinks the talent is worth it, then so be it.

I think Castle should be in consideration for the number one overall pick, although I personally have three players (Alex Sarr, Clingan, and Zaccharie Risacher) ahead of him in my own Hawks specific big board. Perimeter defense next to two small guards has been a worry for the past two seasons and beyond, and while there’s promise in young player Kobe Bufkin, Castle has a truly rare ability to frustrate scorers with his tenacity and smarts.

There is noise about the Hawks and Spurs engaging in a pick swap involving the no. 1 and the Spurs’ top picks, nos. 4 and 8. To me, this would be a good range for the Hawks to pick up their point-of-attack defender of the present and future, and possibly even their primary guard of the distant future in Stephon Castle.