New NBA Rumors on 'Signals' Stephon Castle's Camp Sent to Rockets Ahead of 2024 Draft

Stephon Castle may have suggested that the Houston Rockets pass on him before the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the No. 4 pick of the 2024 draft, The Athletic's Sam Amick reported Wednesday.

Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr were already off the 2024 draft board when the Rockets used the No. 3 pick to select Reed Sheppard over Castle.

"Per league sources, Rockets coach and former Spurs assistant Ime Udoka was a huge fan of Castle's (which Castle said he was well aware of)," Amick reported.

"But with veteran Fred VanVleet manning the point guard position and young Jalen Green at the two-guard spot, Castle and his camp sent the kinds of signals Houston's way that eventually led to him landing in San Antonio. Just as he'd hoped."

Castle recently told Amick he felt the Spurs were "always number one on my list."

"Internally, I always felt like I was the best player in that draft. I didn't know what could happen," Castle told Amick. "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."

That move worked out for the Spurs too. Castle has ranked second only to Victor Wembanyama for the team's postseason scoring lead with an average of 19 points through 21 postseason games.

Castle most recently posted 23 points, five rebounds and five assists to help the Spurs defeat the New York Knicks in Monday's Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.

His contributions will be key to the Spurs' hopes of evening the series at 2-2 when Game 4 tips off Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.