Pistons Draft Crush - Stephon Castle?

What would the Detroit Pistons be getting in the Connecticut freshman at No. 5 overall?

6’4 Guard/Wing

19 Years Old (Turns 20 in November)

Newton HS, Currently Playing for Connecticut 

11.1 PPG - 4.7 RPG - 2.9 APG - 0.8 SPG - 0.5 BPG - 1.5 TOPG (27.0 MPG - 34 GP)

47% on 8.5 FGA - 27% on 2.2 3PA - 76% on 3.2 FTA

My Draft Position - Top 10 Pick

*These are my raw, and condensed, scouting report notes from watching multiple games throughout the season*

ARCHETYPE/POTENTIAL ROLE

This is one of the more interesting archetypes and roles to project at the top of the 2024 class. Coming into the season many projected Castle as a “jumbo initiator” that runs the show for his team, I actually had people give me Cade Cunningham as a role comp (this was PRE COLLEGE and not a one to one player comp, although he does play at that more methodical pace like Cunningham). After a full season in college he looks more like a combo guard, or even wing, that could thrive as a secondary creator. The ladder is more in line with my projection which will bring into question his floor spacing and 3-point shooting that he has struggled with in his freshman season but did show growth at times throughout the season. Where he has been better than I anticipated is on the defensive end where he has taken tough matchups, played extremely hard (a question I had coming out of HS), shown some playmaking/disruption (more in HS) and flat out has shown real growth to the point of perhaps being the best perimeter defender at the top of the draft.

OFFENSE

• Great feel for the game and does have the ability to play on the ball

  • Really, really like his passing the more I watch him and this becomes a MAJOR plus if he’s a little more of an off ball/secondary creator compared to the primary initiator we thought coming into the season  

  • Can see him using eye manipulation with his passes along with just being a quick decision maker and ball mover 

  • Using that feel for the game to be an impactful OREB

    • This is a major plus if he is having to play more off the ball

• NBA ready body 

  • Likes to play for contact at the rim

• Plays with a unique pace

  • Thought he showed some real ability to pressure the paint but it is weird, the payoff/production doesn’t always seem to be there

  • Struggled a bit offensively

    • Didn’t get to spots easily

    • Some questionable passes

    • Not sure he did much in terms of being able to create separation

• The jumper looks VERY rough right now (early in the season)

  • Another 3PA that looks ROUGH

    • I just wonder if it’s in his head right now

  • XAVIER IS REFUSING TO GUARD HIM AND HE IS REFUSING TO SHOOT IT

    • Ends up going 1-1 in this game and shoots it better immediately after this game (on low volume)

  • BAMA taking the same approach

    • Misses his first attempt

    • Makes his next two (do want to point out that the miss was a C&S and the two makes he was able to dribble walk into them)

    • Misses his final 3 attempts

  • I truly think it became a confidence thing and will be very interesting to track the rest of the year and if we see him shoot it a tad better

    • 30% on 2.4 3PAs (last 20 games)

    • 21% on 2.4 3PAs (last 10 games)

    • Had a 6 game stretch end of Jan. where he was 44% on 18 total attempts

  • HERE ARE MY PRE COLLEGE NOTES ON THE JUMP SHOT

    • Good elevation on the mid range pull up jumper BUT it’s just not overly explosive, does this get blocked a lot?

    • I wonder if he is a player who shoots far better off the bounce then off the catch

      • This plays even more into him having to be an on thee ball player

    • Does look like the shot can be a little flat at times

      • Almost “throws” it at the top

    • Then the FT line numbers has to make you a tad concerned

      • Has been good to see those numbers more positive during his freshman season

• I think he can do the necessary off ball likes like relocation for floor spacing and timely cutting 

  • OREBs as well, showing this in the Final Four

    • They even started using him as a PnR guy

  • Just has to be able to knock down open C&S opportunities 

  • Obviously, should be a MAJOR plus as a second side creator and attacking unsettled/scrambling defenses 

DEFENSE

• Questions with it coming out of HS

  • Again, doing the little things, defending, etc

    • The great thing about this is it wasn’t the major pitch for him coming out of HS 

  • He is playing HARD (TRULY, dive on the floor play vs Xavier)

• THE IMPROVEMENT REALLY STANDS OUT TO ME, NOT JUST BETTER BUT HE IS GOOD! (At least on the ball and I think off the ball as well)

  • There is a real argument he is the best perimeter defender at the top of this draft

  • Never would have thought that based on the HS tape

• Some seem to think its very impactful while others do not

  • Doing some playmaking vs Creighton

    • Led his HS team in blocked shots and was disruptive with steals

  • The playmaking numbers overall do not stand out and I know a lot of people really value those, will be interesting how that is reconciled 

• You can see he understands the nuanced things defensively 

  • Stunt without over committing, scout report, scheme, personnel, etc 

• I respect the heck out of how hard he plays on this end when you can tell the shooting is in his head on the other

  • It is not easy for a star recruit to come in and struggle the way he did offensively but still give the energy he has on this end

  • Especially when this wasn’t necessarily a “calling card” for him coming into college

FOR THE PISTONS

This is one of the more interesting scouts in this draft class for me. Coming into his freshman season I was looking at Castle as a jumbo initiator (of course, we must consider HIS comments recently about being a point guard and what those means or why he is making them) but as things played out that was not the role he played and eventually really thrived in. Instead, he became more of an off the ball and second side creator that was making timely off the ball cuts and attacking the offensive boards. I also had real questions about his defense coming into college and he flipped the narrative from that to perhaps the most “solid”, and all round best, perimeter defender at the top of this class. Pairing him with Ausar would be a nightmare for opposing defenses but would open up some real questions about floor spacing on the other end of the court. Can the volume and percentage from 3 get good enough to be the Josh Hart type of player that people seem to be comparing him to recently? If so, we have seen how valuable that player can be alongside a primary guy like Jalen Brunson. Somewhere this offseason the Pistons (and Trajan Langdon) HAVE, HAVE, HAVE to prioritize shooting and floor spacing. I don’t think that takes them out of taking a player like Castle but just means that if they do, the construction of the rest of the roster must solve the issue via free agency and/or trade.