The San Antonio Spurs, who’ve been linked to Chris Paul for a while now, are purportedly signing the future Hall of Fame point guard and pairing him up with star center Victor Wembanyama.
Dwight Howard, and NBA vet that knows a thing or two about playing center with some excellent point guards, loves the move – saying on social media, “I like cp3 with the spurs Wemby gone win the scoring title.”
Howard and Paul were teammates on Team USA’s 2008 Olympic squad together, but never combined forces in the NBA.
As Wembanyama showed unlimited potential during his Rookie of the Year season, it became increasingly apparent that he would benefit tremendously from a point guard who could make the game easier for him. While the Spurs gave Wemby the ball often, especially as the season went on, he often had it in situations far from the basket where he’d have to work hard to get a decent shot off. Still, the 7-foot-4 center managed to average 21.4, points, grab 10.6 rebounds, and dole out 3.9 assists per game.
Chris Paul has lead the NBA in assists five times in his NBA career, including as recently as just two seasons ago. That’s also the last time he earned one of his 11 All-NBA Teams selections. While nowhere near what he was, his credentials and basketball IQ alone will be invaluable to the youngest roster in the league.
The Spurs are aiming to build good habits as they continue to put together talent and grow their young nucleus. Getting a point guard like Paul, even at this juncture of his career, was a coup for San Antonio.
The San Antonio Spurs had long been linked to Stephon Castle before selecting him on Wednesday with the fourth overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Castle now becomes, along with Paul, one of the primary guards for the Spurs. His two-way play and ability to create shooting opportunities for others on the perimeter will open up the floor tremendously for Wembanyama.
“It’s definitely been a dream come true,” Castle said about entering the NBA with the Spurs.
“It’s been kind of unreal,” the former UConn star added.” I’ve been blessed to experience it with my family with me. They’ve had a number of sacrifices. Just being in college, they weren’t always been with me. To go through this with them behind me has been fun.”
Castle shouldn’t take too long to acclimate to the NBA game and, if there any any obstacles in the road, that’s what Chris Paul is for. If the Spurs are right and Castle turns out to be what they envision, they’ve located their guy to pair with Wembanyama and start the climb into contention.
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