Spurs' Stephon Castle is Right Where He Wants to Be

In just his second season with the San Antonio Spurs, Stephon Castle is a key contributor in the NBA Finals.

Alongside superstar Victor Wembanyama, Castle propelled the Spurs to a Game 3 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night - recording 23 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Castle separated himself as the best player from the 2024 NBA Draft class, but three players were selected before him. Castle went No. 4 overall to the Spurs, who picked after the Atlanta Hawks (Zaccharie Risacher), Washington Wizards (Alex Sarr) and Hosuton Rockets (Reed Sheppard).

While Castle viewed himself as the No. 1 player in the 2024 class, he always viewed the Spurs as his No. 1 option.

The Rockets were interested in selecting Castle with their No. 3 overall pick, but the guard’s team “sent signals” to Houston that ultimately landed him in San Antonio, according to a recent report from NBA insider Sam Amick of The Athletic.

"I was just looking on the defensive side of things [in San Antonio], where being able to pair with Victor was definitely a plus in my eyes," Castle said, via Amick. "I just thought it would have been a perfect fit, and I feel like it was."

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"I think being [in San Antonio] was always number one on my list," Castle added. "Internally, I always felt like I was the best player in that draft. [But] I didn't know what could happen. My agent always told me, like, anything can happen in a draft. Like, you could not work out for a team, not have talked to a team, and they can still take you.

“So, I mean, I wasn't really planning on playing in Houston. I didn't really know how any of that worked. I was kind of hoping I could slide my way to San Antonio. It kind of worked out for me."

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Game 4 of the NBA Finals will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 9:55 AM.