UConn in the NBA Feb ‘25

[Deleted at users request]

The Spurs think as highly of him as we do, they’re not going to limit his development.

They were always going to add more pieces, especially wing scorers, throughout his career.

Castle won’t even be in his prime for another 5-6 years. This is great for him, actually. Jmo, of course.

More pieces is fine. But they didn’t bring in a weapons for him to feed but a guy that will move him off his natural position.

He’ll be fine because he’s talented enough to adjust. He’ll probably look like the Thompson twins who are in similar situations making it work.

I was just happy to see him grow in his natural position before the trade. He was really coming into his own.

 

[Mr. French]

More pieces is fine. But they didn’t bring in a weapons for him to feed but a guy that will move him off his natural position.

He’ll be fine because he’s talented enough to adjust. He’ll probably look like the Thompson twins who are in similar situations making it work.

I was just happy to see him grow in his natural position before the trade. He was really coming into his own.

Your take is understandable but too dramatic. You didn’t ask my advice, but I’d say that’s where you get into arguments here.

Bringing in Fox isn’t “moving him off” his natural position. They’re doing the same thing they would have done anyways, which is have multiple facilitators including him while he grows. He’s developing as a lead guard. Fox or not, that’s up to him.

Fox is someone who can score or play lead, but the NBA isn’t Stockton and Isaiah anymore. You have multiple lead guards and offense initiators. Fox will increase his ability to get better in his role, not inhibit it.

 

[ctbro1999]

Your take is understandable but too dramatic. You didn’t ask my advice, but I’d say that’s where you get into arguments here.

Bringing in Fox isn’t “moving him off” his natural position. They’re doing the same thing they would have done anyways, which is have multiple facilitators including him while he grows. He’s developing as a lead guard. Fox or not, that’s up to him.

Fox is someone who can score or play lead, but the NBA isn’t Stockton and Isaiah anymore. You have multiple lead guards and offense initiators. Fox will increase his ability to get better in his role, not inhibit it.

And also, Chris Paul is not gonna be on the Spurs for that much longer. Once Paul either retires or signs with another team (and assuming the Spurs extend Fox) a Fox/Castle backcourt is something to look forward to.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Fox is someone who can score or play lead, but the NBA isn’t Stockton and Isaiah anymore. You have multiple lead guards and offense initiators. Fox will increase his ability to get better in his role, not inhibit it.

The new basketball theory is way overblown. There is still a difference between a true table setting PG and the combo guard or the SG who plays PG out of necessity.

Cavs have Garland and Mitchell, a table setter and the true bucket getter.

Knicks have Brunson and Hart, the star and the role player who plays off him.

Pacers have Halliburton and Nembhard (which is probably what the Fox Castle dynamic would be, P.S. Haliburton wanted out of the Kings and Fox for this EXACT reason)

Trae Young and Murray didn’t work for this reason too, two more dominant PG types.

He can literally not develop as a lead guard with one of the best lead guards in the NBA who will need and deserve to have the ball in his hands.

 

[Deleted at users request]

He also doesn’t really need 5-6 years of development. He was already on a stretch where he was getting 20 a game on a nightly basis. He wasn’t far from being a star in this league. It can still happen again, he just will naturally have a more diminished role playing next to a star like Fox that does a lot of what he does.

 

[gtcam]

Um, they have the next big thing in Wemby and are cresting to start winning in a conference full of great teams. They needed to make a move to put some real players around Wemby, has nothing to do with impatience with Castle. He’s a rookie, they’re allowing him to develop at a pace that makes sense in a first season.

Beyond Wemby and Castle their roster was full of meh.

I'll take a meh Fox everyday

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The new basketball theory is way overblown. There is still a difference between a true table setting PG and the combo guard or the SG who plays PG out of necessity.

Cavs have Garland and Mitchell, a table setter and the true bucket getter.

Knicks have Brunson and Hart, the star and the role player who plays off him.

Pacers have Halliburton and Nembhard (which is probably what the Fox Castle dynamic would be, P.S. Haliburton wanted out of the Kings and Fox for this EXACT reason)

Trae Young and Murray didn’t work for this reason too, two more dominant PG types.

He can literally not develop as a lead guard with one of the best lead guards in the NBA who will need and deserve to have the ball in his hands.

He literally can. He isn’t ready to be ball dominant anyways lol. This is a good situation for him to learn after a pretty similar player. Fox wasn’t a great shooter coming into the league but has developed into a very respectable shooter. He has never been an elite-tier facilitator, and I think that is a likely projection for Steph as well. If you watch the Cavs you see both Garland and Donovan initiate the offense. Who is the true PG for the Celtics? Same with the Rockets, Lakers, Mavs before the trade. You’re far too worried about Steph getting no time initiating when that just won’t be the case. Wemby is going to be the hun regardless anyways.

 

[Deleted at users request]

He literally can. He isn’t ready to be ball dominant anyways lol. This is a good situation for him to learn after a pretty similar player. Fox wasn’t a great shooter coming into the league but has developed into a very respectable shooter. He has never been an elite-tier facilitator, and I think that is a likely projection for Steph as well. If you watch the Cavs you see both Garland and Donovan initiate the offense. Who is the true PG for the Celtics? Same with the Rockets, Lakers, Mavs before the trade. You’re far too worried about Steph getting no time initiating when that just won’t be the case. Wemby is going to be the hun regardless anyways.

FVV is the PG for the Rockets and Green is the scorer. It’s the same thing for the Cavs even if Mitchell and Green can come up and run the offense every now and then. But those are the very clear roles for those teams. Lakers and Mavs are situations with two high level scoring guards. That’s not the case in SAS as Steph is not a high level scorer currently. He's a way better facilitator.

And we literally saw this situation play out already with Fox and Haliburton and Haliburton can shoot. And you saw why Haliburton wanted out because he himself was an All-Star PG and wanted to run his own team. Now he’s an All-Star Olympian fresh off a ECF appearance all before 24.

Steph doesn’t need years of learning. He was going to be fine with the 1 year Chris Paul apprenticeship.

 

[Deleted at users request]

BJ Armstrong shares similar concerns too.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

FVV is the PG for the Rockets and Green is the scorer. It’s the same thing for the Cavs even if Mitchell and Green can come up and run the offense every now and then. But those are the very clear roles for those teams. Lakers and Mavs are situations with two high level scoring guards. That’s not the case in SAS as Steph is not a high level scorer currently. He's a way better facilitator.

And we literally saw this situation play out already with Fox and Haliburton and Haliburton can shoot. And you saw why Haliburton wanted out because he himself was an All-Star PG and wanted to run his own team. Now he’s an All-Star Olympian fresh off a ECF appearance all before 24.

Steph doesn’t need years of learning. He was going to be fine with the 1 year Chris Paul apprenticeship.

You’re FAR too concerned with defined roles when this league has been and will comtinue to stray away from it. When Steph is on the court he will be the 1st or 2nd playmaking option a vast majority of the time, just as he was before Fox got there.

And I watch the Rockets quite often and have caught a good amount of Cavs games. Mitchell and Green/Thompson/Sengun run the offense pretty much whenever they want.

Playing off the ball a bit more will help Steph improve his scoring and secondary playmaking which the Spurs need if they want to compete.

 

[Mr. French]

FVV is the PG for the Rockets and Green is the scorer. It’s the same thing for the Cavs even if Mitchell and Green can come up and run the offense every now and then. But those are the very clear roles for those teams. Lakers and Mavs are situations with two high level scoring guards. That’s not the case in SAS as Steph is not a high level scorer currently. He's a way better facilitator.

And we literally saw this situation play out already with Fox and Haliburton and Haliburton can shoot. And you saw why Haliburton wanted out because he himself was an All-Star PG and wanted to run his own team. Now he’s an All-Star Olympian fresh off a ECF appearance all before 24.

Steph doesn’t need years of learning. He was going to be fine with the 1 year Chris Paul apprenticeship.

How about the Celtics, Luka’s team, OKC, any LeBron team, or any of the other dozens of examples of teams with multiple facilitators and point forwards?

Also, Castle is ready NOW to contribute, but he’s not ready to be THE lead guy. He may be, if not thrown into a crap situation, by the time he’s 24-25. That’s the goal.

YOUR goal for him is arguably easier for him this way. He’s not going to be given the keys, nor should he. You genuinely think him being LaMelo on a crappy team is BETTER for his career trajectory than this Spurs composition and another 10 years of possibilities?

You’re seeing it WAY too narrow, man. But I guess we can just agree to disagree. I’m going to keep watching his star ascend and maybe win 5 titles with a generational player.

 

[Mr. French]

BJ Armstrong shares similar concerns too.

We can find 50 clips of everyone being geeked to combat this. 1 former player having a hot take isn’t that persuasive. It’s just not nearly as large a concern as you think.

Him being a great piece to a great core with a great org is way more important than this season having the ball in his hands more. Bottom line.

 

[Deleted at users request]

How about the Celtics, Luka’s team, OKC, any LeBron team, or any of the other dozens of examples of teams with multiple facilitators and point forwards?

Also, Castle is ready NOW to contribute, but he’s not ready to be THE lead guy. He may be, if not thrown into a crap situation, by the time he’s 24-25. That’s the goal.

YOUR goal for him is arguably easier for him this way. He’s not going to be given the keys, nor should he. You genuinely think him being LaMelo on a crappy team is BETTER for his career trajectory than this Spurs composition and another 10 years of possibilities?

You’re seeing it WAY too narrow, man. But I guess we can just agree to disagree. I’m going to keep watching his star ascend and maybe win 5 titles with a generational player.

Lamelo is an extreme example. But he could be Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, SGA, Ja Morant, except he would’ve had Wemby to make winning easier.

He was averaging like almost 17 over his last 10 before they picked up Fox. He would’ve been ready in 3 years maximum to take this team to where they needed to go.

You can’t fault the Spurs for having a star player fall in their lap though. Hes going to be a part of winning if he stays there for sure. Just not sure how bright his star will shine or if he’d rather be Haliburton (who left a team that ended up being a 2 seed in the West the very next year).

 

[Deleted at users request]

Playing off the ball a bit more will help Steph improve his scoring and secondary playmaking which the Spurs need if they want to compete.

Great. Steph will spend more time highlighting what he’s not good at instead of being able to lean into what he’s great at.

 

[Palatine]

Steph is a rookie. He will force his way onto the court soon enough.

Same with Clingan. They will have to move people to get DC on the court. If you watch his highlights, they are pretty sensational. They win a lot when he gets minutes.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Great. Steph will spend more time highlighting what he’s not good at instead of being able to lean into what he’s great at.

Highlighting what he’s not good at? How about working to improve the deficiencies in his game? Yeesh man…

 

[RuffRuff]

I'll take a meh Fox everyday

My point is that’s why they got Fox.

 

[aceboon]

The new basketball theory is way overblown. There is still a difference between a true table setting PG and the combo guard or the SG who plays PG out of necessity.

Cavs have Garland and Mitchell, a table setter and the true bucket getter.

Knicks have Brunson and Hart, the star and the role player who plays off him.

Pacers have Halliburton and Nembhard (which is probably what the Fox Castle dynamic would be, P.S. Haliburton wanted out of the Kings and Fox for this EXACT reason)

Trae Young and Murray didn’t work for this reason too, two more dominant PG types.

He can literally not develop as a lead guard with one of the best lead guards in the NBA who will need and deserve to have the ball in his hands.

This is not true, Haliburton was very disappointed when the Kings traded him, he didn't ask to be dealt

 

[Deleted at users request]

This is not true, Haliburton was very disappointed when the Kings traded him, he didn't ask to be dealt

You’re right I messed that up. It did turn out to be great for him though as he got a chance to show he’s capable of being the guy very early. He’s accomplished a lot already and he’s only 24.

 

[Hunt for 7]

That's a hell of a take.

Yes one hell of a take and now we have podcasts asking the question if this will impact the growth of Castle. Maybe saying they were impatient was not the right definition. My concern was the impact on Castle’s development. BJ Armstrong thinks there is reason for some concern. Not sure how this move could be considered good for Castle.

Of course Fox makes them better right away. And if anyone has the make up to work through any challenge placed in their path it is Castle. But he will play less and he has lost his starting role.

So rose colored glasses, saying this is a net negative impact on Castle I do not agree with, IMO it is worse take than what I said.

I would prefer to see Castle starting and playing 30 minutes a game that just is not going to happen now. Will the Spurs be better possibly. But I am a Castle fan way more than a Spurs fan.

 

[RuffRuff]

Yes one hell of a take and now we have podcasts asking the question if this will impact the growth of Castle. Maybe saying they were impatient was not the right definition. My concern was the impact on Castle’s development. BJ Armstrong thinks there is reason for some concern. Not sure how this move could be considered good for Castle.

Of course Fox makes them better right away. And if anyone has the make up to work through any challenge placed in their path it is Castle. But he will play less and he has lost his starting role.

So rose colored glasses, saying this is a net negative impact on Castle I do not agree with, IMO it is worse take than what I said.

I would prefer to see Castle starting and playing 30 minutes a game that just is not going to happen now. Will the Spurs be better possibly. But I am a Castle fan way more than a Spurs fan.

You do realize if the Spurs want to actually win, not just collect stats for rookies, they need good players to do that? To me it's a suggestion that they're aware they drafted two great pieces, now have to put some talent around them to actually start winning.

This rationale is a real negative spin. What's the alternative? Sucking for a couple more years allowing just Wemby and Steph to develop? Him not starting is par for rookies, load management, letting them sequence into a new roster, etc. Not worried about it as long as he's still getting good minutes. They're moving from a 35 game schedule to an 82 in a wash of a season.

 

[Deleted at users request]

You do realize if the Spurs want to actually win, not just collect stats for rookies, they need good players to do that? To me it's a suggestion that they're aware they drafted two great pieces, now have to put some talent around them to actually start winning.

This rationale is a real negative spin. What's the alternative? Sucking for a couple more years allowing just Wemby and Steph to develop? Him not starting is par for rookies, load management, letting them sequence into a new roster, etc. Not worried about it as long as he's still getting good minutes. They're moving from a 35 game schedule to an 82 in a wash of a season.

They’re currently two games out of the play-in in Steph’s first year and Wemby’s second year.

I think it’s fair to say that by next year and the year after they would’ve been a playoff team as is with Steph as the perimeter star of the show.

 

[Hunt for 7]

You do realize if the Spurs want to actually win, not just collect stats for rookies, they need good players to do that? To me it's a suggestion that they're aware they drafted two great pieces, now have to put some talent around them to actually start winning.

This rationale is a real negative spin. What's the alternative? Sucking for a couple more years allowing just Wemby and Steph to develop? Him not starting is par for rookies, load management, letting them sequence into a new roster, etc. Not worried about it as long as he's still getting good minutes. They're moving from a 35 game schedule to an 82 in a wash of a season.

Like I said my only interest is that Castle becomes a star in this league. I am not a Spurs fan and I understand all of that. My only interest is that Castle develop as quickly as he can and become one of the young stars in the NBA. Of course it improved the Spurs but that is not what I am interested in. If the argument you are making is that Castle will benefit from having a bit smaller role on a better team then so be it. I hope you are correct.

 

[superjohn]

Yes one hell of a take and now we have podcasts asking the question if this will impact the growth of Castle. Maybe saying they were impatient was not the right definition. My concern was the impact on Castle’s development. BJ Armstrong thinks there is reason for some concern. Not sure how this move could be considered good for Castle.

Of course Fox makes them better right away. And if anyone has the make up to work through any challenge placed in their path it is Castle. But he will play less and he has lost his starting role.

So rose colored glasses, saying this is a net negative impact on Castle I do not agree with, IMO it is worse take than what I said.

I would prefer to see Castle starting and playing 30 minutes a game that just is not going to happen now. Will the Spurs be better possibly. But I am a Castle fan way more than a Spurs fan.

If you're a Castle fan you should be ecstatic. Spurs have themselves the best big 3 in the NBA for many years, they're going to be talked about all the time, they're going to be on TV all the time, and they're going to win NBA championships. As one of the big three all of this is amazing for Castle.

 

[RuffRuff]

Like I said my only interest is that Castle becomes a star in this league. I am not a Spurs fan and I understand all of that. My only interest is that Castle develop as quickly as he can and become one of the young stars in the NBA. Of course it improved the Spurs but that is not what I am interested in. If the argument you are making is that Castle will benefit from having a bit smaller role on a better team then so be it. I hope you are correct.

In theory as their PG of the future, Fox should make him better. It's not about less minutes as much as it is putting talent around him. Now if they keep going out and keep acquiring more pieces, then I might worry a tad.

I'm in the same camp as you - my only interest in the NBA is Uconn alum, with a specific interest in Steph because he currently has easily the highest potential for star power. We need one of those for the Uconn brand, as a recruiting tool. If we want our recruiting brand to be top of house, it's the one thing we're really missing. We've put plenty of volume in the last couple years, Steph feels like the one guy that can be a star.

 

[bballgrda]

Blows my mind that people still argue with Huskywarrior, dude has repeatedly shown himself to be one of the dumbest posters on this site when it comes to basketball.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

They’re currently two games out of the play-in in Steph’s first year and Wemby’s second year.

I think it’s fair to say that by next year and the year after they would’ve been a playoff team as is with Steph as the perimeter star of the show.

You’re making a lot of assumptions with this. Star of the show? We all love Steph and think he’s gonna be great, I think by yr 4 he’s an all-star, but star of the show is a jump.

 

[superjohn]

Blows my mind that people still argue with Huskywarrior, dude has repeatedly shown himself to be one of the dumbest posters on this site when it comes to basketball.

He thankfully blocked me but every thread is ruined because it's the same people clearly arguing with him about his same idiotic takes over and over.

 

[Deleted at users request]

You’re making a lot of assumptions with this. Star of the show? We all love Steph and think he’s gonna be great, I think by yr 4 he’s an all-star, but star of the show is a jump.

I don’t know why you removed the word before Star that I put in there.

 

[RuffRuff]

They’re currently two games out of the play-in in Steph’s first year and Wemby’s second year.

I think it’s fair to say that by next year and the year after they would’ve been a playoff team as is with Steph as the perimeter star of the show.

They have a generational talent in Wemby, they want to be better than the 10th place team.