I'm not sure what I think about Castle. Granted, he's very good at taking his man off the dribble and already has an NBA ready body. He's an elite on the ball defender. But he isn't so automatic around the rim as I thought he'd be and our motion offense grinds to a halt when he's on the floor. There's not another player on the team who stands around without the ball or just pounds it out on the perimeter like Castle often does. There were times tonight you could tell his teammates knew he was not in the right spots on the floor. Granted, the lineups tonight at times were funky, where players might not have been used to playing where they are used to. Though within the motion offense he doesn't seem to make quick decisions, via the pass or drive to get an advantage. So far he's not shown any indication of being a 3 point threat.
With all that said, he seems to do things in the latter part of some games that helps the team win. He's dynamic in the open court. Very physical in the paint. He's our best iso player, especially in mismatch situations, though has struggled at times when teams collapse on him in the paint knowing his tendency to force his shot in traffic.
He reminds me so much of Marcus Smart. Now he's still very young and has missed a good chunk of games due to his injury. Still a lot of games to be played to improve. I'm not convinced he's still going to be a one-and-done lottery pick, but if he cleans up some of the perceived shortcomings, especially finishing at a better clip at rim in traffic and midrange, maybe some NBA teams will see him worthy of an early pick.
I just wish he'd play more instinctive and more quickly in our half court multi-screen motion offense. It's been a thing of beauty much of the season, something I just like watching compared to the stand around, two-man iso, where we take tough shots as the shot-clock runs down.
