The Uconn Huskies made some history this past season, as they became one of the few teams in Men's NCAA basketball history to win back-to-back NCAA Championships. While a lot of the credit was given to guys like Donovan Clingan, Triston Newton, Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer, one of the biggest performers from this past title win was Stephon Castle.
Castle was not a great shooter from anywhere beyond mid-range and if historical precedence is anything, he likely won't become a super reliable three-point shooter. That said, Castle did show up offensively, making 54% of his shots from inside the three-point line, and being able to average 11.1 points per game as a freshman on a pretty loaded Ucon team.
What set Castle out from the rest of the team, save for Clingan was his defense. He was one of the best defensive players in the tournament and showcased that to a high degree. He got so noticed for it, that he became a top prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft. Such a prospect, that ESPN's Jeremy Woo has the Jazz taking Castle at No. 8 (assuming the Jazz stay there.
According to Woo (via Sports Illustrated), Castle could serve as a great tandem to Keyonte George.
"“The Jazz have been exceedingly patient with their rebuild and could see long-term benefits in a potential backcourt partnership between Keyonte George and Castle, the latter of whom has established himself as one of the top defensive prospects in this class. Castle's size, matchup versatility and secondary playmaking ability as a ball handler could fit quite nicely with George's scoring ability. Teams will want to see Castle shoot the ball with confidence in workouts, but if he can assuage some of those concerns, he figures to warrant an upside swing in the lottery and benefit from UConn's March dominance.”"
While the team needs defense, they need two-way players most of all. If the draft comes and goes and they don't take a good two-way player, then what was the point of this? Castle can be a good defensive player, but if he doesn't provide anything offensively, and by the looks of it he really doesn't, for an NBA team, why draft him?
He doesn't make sense for the 8th pick. Not with the talent around him in the draft. Now, if he's still there past the 20th pick and the Jazz wanna trade up to get him, that's fine. He should be a good enough defensive prospect for the Jazz to take a rider on in the latter parts of the draft, but not at the eighth spot.