Castle learned the slow step after tutelage from Mike Noyes, the Spurs assistant who is the team’s player development coach. Noyes, like Castle, was a former UConn guard and joined the Spurs in July after spending six years with the Memphis Grizzlies, most recently as player development director.

Perhaps their most important acquisition came in this June’s draft, in which the Spurs held the fourth overall pick. In prime position to draft an impactful supporting piece for Wembanyama, San Antonio decided on Stephon Castle out of UConn.