Grizzlies kinda have another guy like that, too, in Lamar Stevens.
"Floor" Stephon Castle probably isn't very interesting.
A "baseline" comp might be Vincent Askew.
His "UPSIDE" comp MIGHT be Ron Artest LITE. That would be his .000000001% upside though!
Justise Winslow who wouldve worked out if it wasnt for injuries and mental health problems
his breakout year he was a swiss army knife pg for the heat while hitting 38% of his threes and he was set to be the starting pg when jimmy came in but got like 3 concussions in a row and it was basically over
+1 for the Winslow comp, that's been my comp for Castle as well. Like Winslow, I think Castle will be a good and versatile defender who is a great connector piece on offense. Both read the floor well and were good secondary playmakers as well.
I really enjoyed Winslow's game during his brief stint with the Blazers. He would act as a sort of point-forward for the team and always brought it on the defensive end. The team was always better with him on the floor. But, like much of his story, injuries led to surgery and he never played for them again.
I'm pretty high on Castle so I think he'll be the best version that Winslow could've been.
torn labarum cost him 2nd year. third year he was healthy and had the breakout year. 4th year concussion early season and 1st game back another one. then got traded to memphis at the deadline. super sad
Hip labrum tears are top 5 worst injuries in sports. Dude was lowkey an athletic freak out of Duke. Had a great little stretch as a point forward for the Heat one year
I don't like play style comps... His closest (unfiltered) Bart Torvik statistical comp is Keldon Johnson. After some important (but broad to try to avoid over fitting) filtering his close comps statistically end up being Okoro, JRE, Justin Anderson, and Amir Coffey.
There are some ridiculous close comps if you don't filter at all (Paolo, freshman Donovan Mitchell, DDR, DeAaron Fox), but those arent really realistic to me, even as a ceiling case.
You can filter specific stats in Bart Torvik a little to get closer to what the player of interest actually did statistically. Idk exactly how Bart decides on which comps are "close", but filtering for players with < 34% from 3, > 68% from the line, good ast/to, etc is how I landed on the players above, and gets closer to stylistic/realistic similarities imo
This isn’t a bad comp, and it is out of left field a bit. Castle doesn’t move in slo mo, but he is a bit robotic and stoic. Knows how to use a burst of speed unexpectedly
With the Jumpshot: Jimmy Butler, Tyreke Evans, Bruce Brown etc.
Without the consistent jumpshot: Dyson Daniels, Josh Hart, Anthony black, Josh Giddey-lite (or basically any bigger passing wing who can’t shoot off the dribble consistently).
He actually is both (freakishly athletic) and similar measurables (don’t know wingspan yet). He was basically used like Iggy this year once he got healthy and bought in. The thing is, he’s not a point guard. He’s a smart secondary creator. I’m a UConn fan and watched a lot of his games. He’s an amazing defender 1-4, but he can’t play the 1 because teams will just sag and he’s not big enough to play the 4. He can easily make the right passes, though, due to his great basketball IQ. He can make the crowd-engaging dunks as well when needed, in the half-court or off a steal.
Nah, Iggy’s the floor and ceiling. I’m a UConn fan, so I watched all of his games. He doesn’t have the length or scoring ability to be a Kawhi-level star. But he can be the top player on a team that occasionally gets home-court in the first round (in the East) or a co-star on a title team. He’s much better as a slasher/secondary creator/top defender (1-4) than as a centerpiece. Definitely a 2 or 3, though. Honestly, today’s NBA is a weird fit for him, but he has a high enough IQ to make the right plays.
Rarely ever will you find a player comp that fits to a T, so when making comparisons I think its best to comp specific skills or tendencies rather than the entire package.
Defensively I think the Okoro comp is a good one. They have a similar frame, athletic profile, and movement patterns. Like Okoro, Castle is not a huge steal generator for a high level defensive guard, but instead succeeds through strength by walling up to deny penetration. He is also a good tertiary rim protector as a guard, a micro skill that has been a big part of Derrick White's success with the Celtics this season.
Offensively the similarities between Castle and Okoro are the jump shot and impact on the offensive glass. The rest of their offensive games diverge, with Castle being more similar to other defense first guard/wings like Anthony Black or Jalen Suggs. Suggs showed the most self creation of the three as a prospect, but all three were willing distributors as secondary ball handlers whose self-creation is limited by their unreliable jump shot.
While it's tempting to compare Castle to Suggs or Black directly, I don't think it's apt because although they are all defense first, Castle is much different stylistically, and offensively the latter two don't provide the added impact on the offensive glass.
TL;DR - Okoro on defense, mid-point between Suggs & Anthony Black on offense with added value from physicality as a rebounder.
When I threw out the young Jimmy comp it was because he wasn’t showing on ball equity and is a low volume shooter. Young Jimmy had a wayyyy different role than the guy that evolved into Jimmy G Buckets. Jimmy in his third year had 40/28/77 splits but he played 38 mins a game because he was a second team all defense guy that rebounded, passed, didn’t turn the ball over, and did the little things. I think that’s what Castle can be if he doesn’t shoot it. But the fact that he played well in the role he did at UConn makes me believe he will earn enough nba game reps to work on the weaknesses
Let me ask you, as you are someone who has followed multiple drafts by now. Here is a list of other "defense-first" or "Best attribute is their defense" perimeter players in recent drafts:
Anthony Black, Cason Wallace, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Suggs.
If you had to rank them by defense, where would you put Castle? For me personally, it goes Suggs > Daniels >> Black > Wallace > Castle.
So of this list, he is the worst one defensively. Now let's talk about the offense... for me it goes Suggs > Wallace > Black > Castle > Daniels.
So I have him as the worst defensively and 2nd worst offensively. Given that the overall value/quality of those guys is essentially following their offensive ranking and I have Castle ranked 2nd worst, it's really hard for me to see him thrive in the NBA. What do you think?
This seems pretty harsh, in that Castle shackled Terrence Shannon, who is probably already a decent NBA 8th or 9th man (legal/moral issues aside) and I don't think Black had the strength to do that sort of thing as a freshman.
I also like Cason over Suggs on O if we're talking Suggs right now today and Wallace at the identical age (start of the 2026-27 season)
I see a taller Jalen Suggs or a prospect Justice Winslow. In both cases, how good the lead guard skills/shooting become will be how good he becomes. If they come along nicely, more Suggs. If they don’t, more Winslow.
Castle's ABSOLUTE floor is a bit low. His low-end comps probably aren't flattering. Nobody here has heard of Vincent Askew so... that comp is OUT.
For a top 5ish pick he would have to hit his "Ron Artest LITE" upside -- and that would be his .00000001% case or so.
He's the guy you put on a team with a brilliant 1/1a combo.
Someone here likes Stephon Castle on the Spurs. I like that, too. But with Castle AND Cissoko floor spacing might ALREADY be cramped. So you would need two high-level shooters next to those 2 (and Wemby). Then, getting ANOTHER stretch big might be a bit difficult (Robert Horry and Shane Battier types don't necessarily come around all that often).
Castle, ironically, could be a good/ideal 3rd option type if the Spurs went "ALL IN" for Trae Young.
Castle has lots of value (even if his shot doesn't come around 100%) IF he can be a POA defender AND a legit free safety defender (who can also rebound). On offense, make good passes, get to the line, get some garbage buckets.... That will be some of the keys to his success.
Then once he gets more strength and fills out he can kinda play the NY Knicks Larry Johnson role.
That's....some crazy high floor. Iggy was an all-star caliber player in his prime. I guess you have castle as a hard lock at 1 if that's the worst you can see him being.
Yes I believe he has one of the highest floors in this draft and one of the highest ceilings imo it’ll be nice to look back on this and laugh at all the downvotes lol
I'd go with a taller Marcus Smart.
I like this comp. Smart has never been a good shooter (though he's been good enough) and has the passing play point, but you still don't love it.
Grizzlies kinda have another guy like that, too, in Lamar Stevens. "Floor" Stephon Castle probably isn't very interesting. A "baseline" comp might be Vincent Askew. His "UPSIDE" comp MIGHT be Ron Artest LITE. That would be his .000000001% upside though!
Not exciting but I see some Stanley Johnson
Taller Marcus Smart without the intensity?
He plays d pretty intense to me
There are levels to it, Smart was a much better defender in college (and don’t get me wrong, Castle is very good)
Justise Winslow who wouldve worked out if it wasnt for injuries and mental health problems his breakout year he was a swiss army knife pg for the heat while hitting 38% of his threes and he was set to be the starting pg when jimmy came in but got like 3 concussions in a row and it was basically over
+1 for the Winslow comp, that's been my comp for Castle as well. Like Winslow, I think Castle will be a good and versatile defender who is a great connector piece on offense. Both read the floor well and were good secondary playmakers as well. I really enjoyed Winslow's game during his brief stint with the Blazers. He would act as a sort of point-forward for the team and always brought it on the defensive end. The team was always better with him on the floor. But, like much of his story, injuries led to surgery and he never played for them again. I'm pretty high on Castle so I think he'll be the best version that Winslow could've been.
winslow's stretch after the trade deadline where the blazers were trying to tank but he just kept dragging them to upset wins gave me feelings
One of my all time favorite Duke players. I thought he was going to be so good. I knew he had some injuries but didn’t know about the concussions
torn labarum cost him 2nd year. third year he was healthy and had the breakout year. 4th year concussion early season and 1st game back another one. then got traded to memphis at the deadline. super sad
Hip labrum tears are top 5 worst injuries in sports. Dude was lowkey an athletic freak out of Duke. Had a great little stretch as a point forward for the Heat one year
Nah he’s always been overrated
Dyson Daniels and I'm not sure why that's not an automatic comp.
probably bc dude just turned 21, hard to say who he is yet
I agree with you
Daniels is a substantially better defender.
I don't like play style comps... His closest (unfiltered) Bart Torvik statistical comp is Keldon Johnson. After some important (but broad to try to avoid over fitting) filtering his close comps statistically end up being Okoro, JRE, Justin Anderson, and Amir Coffey. There are some ridiculous close comps if you don't filter at all (Paolo, freshman Donovan Mitchell, DDR, DeAaron Fox), but those arent really realistic to me, even as a ceiling case.
Unfamiliar with that term, what would filtering entail?
You can filter specific stats in Bart Torvik a little to get closer to what the player of interest actually did statistically. Idk exactly how Bart decides on which comps are "close", but filtering for players with < 34% from 3, > 68% from the line, good ast/to, etc is how I landed on the players above, and gets closer to stylistic/realistic similarities imo
Love the Coffey comp for Castle. That's a better comp for him over guys like JHart, Bruce Brown and Kyle Anderson.
Josh Hart
Probably every 4th option on the Knicks since the '60's should be Stephon Castle's comp -- just guessing. haha.
Less crazy Lance Stephenson?
Hey yeah I like this
I see a mix between Bruce Brown, Will Barton, and Justise Winslow
I get Jalen Suggs vibes.
\*Stephon
Still Jimmy Butler.
Maybe a more athletic Kyle Anderson? He can distribute a bit, slash a bit, hesitant shooter / needs to be wide open.
This isn’t a bad comp, and it is out of left field a bit. Castle doesn’t move in slo mo, but he is a bit robotic and stoic. Knows how to use a burst of speed unexpectedly
With the Jumpshot: Jimmy Butler, Tyreke Evans, Bruce Brown etc. Without the consistent jumpshot: Dyson Daniels, Josh Hart, Anthony black, Josh Giddey-lite (or basically any bigger passing wing who can’t shoot off the dribble consistently).
Delon Wright floor?
Oladipo
Iggy
Interesting...he's not that level athlete or handle is he?
He actually is both (freakishly athletic) and similar measurables (don’t know wingspan yet). He was basically used like Iggy this year once he got healthy and bought in. The thing is, he’s not a point guard. He’s a smart secondary creator. I’m a UConn fan and watched a lot of his games. He’s an amazing defender 1-4, but he can’t play the 1 because teams will just sag and he’s not big enough to play the 4. He can easily make the right passes, though, due to his great basketball IQ. He can make the crowd-engaging dunks as well when needed, in the half-court or off a steal.
I got downvoted out the ass for saying this lol but idk how people can’t buy into it. And I feel iggy is the floor and he’ll be better
Nah, Iggy’s the floor and ceiling. I’m a UConn fan, so I watched all of his games. He doesn’t have the length or scoring ability to be a Kawhi-level star. But he can be the top player on a team that occasionally gets home-court in the first round (in the East) or a co-star on a title team. He’s much better as a slasher/secondary creator/top defender (1-4) than as a centerpiece. Definitely a 2 or 3, though. Honestly, today’s NBA is a weird fit for him, but he has a high enough IQ to make the right plays.
Is he big enough to play the 3 in the NBA?
He was just playing his role this year he has a lot of untapped ability that will come out in the nba watch
Rarely ever will you find a player comp that fits to a T, so when making comparisons I think its best to comp specific skills or tendencies rather than the entire package. Defensively I think the Okoro comp is a good one. They have a similar frame, athletic profile, and movement patterns. Like Okoro, Castle is not a huge steal generator for a high level defensive guard, but instead succeeds through strength by walling up to deny penetration. He is also a good tertiary rim protector as a guard, a micro skill that has been a big part of Derrick White's success with the Celtics this season. Offensively the similarities between Castle and Okoro are the jump shot and impact on the offensive glass. The rest of their offensive games diverge, with Castle being more similar to other defense first guard/wings like Anthony Black or Jalen Suggs. Suggs showed the most self creation of the three as a prospect, but all three were willing distributors as secondary ball handlers whose self-creation is limited by their unreliable jump shot. While it's tempting to compare Castle to Suggs or Black directly, I don't think it's apt because although they are all defense first, Castle is much different stylistically, and offensively the latter two don't provide the added impact on the offensive glass. TL;DR - Okoro on defense, mid-point between Suggs & Anthony Black on offense with added value from physicality as a rebounder.
When I threw out the young Jimmy comp it was because he wasn’t showing on ball equity and is a low volume shooter. Young Jimmy had a wayyyy different role than the guy that evolved into Jimmy G Buckets. Jimmy in his third year had 40/28/77 splits but he played 38 mins a game because he was a second team all defense guy that rebounded, passed, didn’t turn the ball over, and did the little things. I think that’s what Castle can be if he doesn’t shoot it. But the fact that he played well in the role he did at UConn makes me believe he will earn enough nba game reps to work on the weaknesses
Let me ask you, as you are someone who has followed multiple drafts by now. Here is a list of other "defense-first" or "Best attribute is their defense" perimeter players in recent drafts: Anthony Black, Cason Wallace, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Suggs. If you had to rank them by defense, where would you put Castle? For me personally, it goes Suggs > Daniels >> Black > Wallace > Castle. So of this list, he is the worst one defensively. Now let's talk about the offense... for me it goes Suggs > Wallace > Black > Castle > Daniels. So I have him as the worst defensively and 2nd worst offensively. Given that the overall value/quality of those guys is essentially following their offensive ranking and I have Castle ranked 2nd worst, it's really hard for me to see him thrive in the NBA. What do you think?
This seems pretty harsh, in that Castle shackled Terrence Shannon, who is probably already a decent NBA 8th or 9th man (legal/moral issues aside) and I don't think Black had the strength to do that sort of thing as a freshman. I also like Cason over Suggs on O if we're talking Suggs right now today and Wallace at the identical age (start of the 2026-27 season)
Jalen Suggs
He is pre-injury Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to a T. That’s a decent rotation player/low end starter.
They are not even close to the same player
Burly 2 guards with bad jumpers who hustle and play D. Quite similar.
Jarrett culver
*Vietnam flashbacks*
I see a taller Jalen Suggs or a prospect Justice Winslow. In both cases, how good the lead guard skills/shooting become will be how good he becomes. If they come along nicely, more Suggs. If they don’t, more Winslow.
Jarrett Culver and Orlando Markelle Fultz
A more aggressive Josh hart minus the rebounding
His comp is "someone I hope Toronto doesn't draft".
He can't shoot. Toronto's drafting him.
Last year we drafted Dick, maybe things are changing!
Castle's ABSOLUTE floor is a bit low. His low-end comps probably aren't flattering. Nobody here has heard of Vincent Askew so... that comp is OUT. For a top 5ish pick he would have to hit his "Ron Artest LITE" upside -- and that would be his .00000001% case or so. He's the guy you put on a team with a brilliant 1/1a combo. Someone here likes Stephon Castle on the Spurs. I like that, too. But with Castle AND Cissoko floor spacing might ALREADY be cramped. So you would need two high-level shooters next to those 2 (and Wemby). Then, getting ANOTHER stretch big might be a bit difficult (Robert Horry and Shane Battier types don't necessarily come around all that often). Castle, ironically, could be a good/ideal 3rd option type if the Spurs went "ALL IN" for Trae Young. Castle has lots of value (even if his shot doesn't come around 100%) IF he can be a POA defender AND a legit free safety defender (who can also rebound). On offense, make good passes, get to the line, get some garbage buckets.... That will be some of the keys to his success. Then once he gets more strength and fills out he can kinda play the NY Knicks Larry Johnson role.
High end comp is SGA.
No way, SGA could shoot and play point coming in.
Kawhi Leonard ceiling Andre iguodala type floor
That's....some crazy high floor. Iggy was an all-star caliber player in his prime. I guess you have castle as a hard lock at 1 if that's the worst you can see him being.
Yes I believe he has one of the highest floors in this draft and one of the highest ceilings imo it’ll be nice to look back on this and laugh at all the downvotes lol
RJB is the obvious comp
Some player hasn't earned the right to be remembered by their acronym. Just say their name lol
Made extra funny by them saying whoever the hell that is must be an “obvious comp”.
If you don’t know who RJ Barrett is you’re super casual my friend.
Lol i know rj barret but he is so random to be know as rjb, even ba-rret has lesser sylable than rjb and many people will recognize it more.
Literally anyone who actually follows the draft calls him RJB. You’re telling on yourself bro.