Top-Five Prospect May Have Eliminated Himself From Rockets Consideration

Stephon Castle, a popular mock target for the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA Draft, may have eliminated himself from contention for the Rockets.

Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley celebrates with / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The majority of mock drafts have the Houston Rockets selecting Connecticut big man Donovan Clingan with the third overall pick, as many view the center position as a chief need for the franchise. Which is understandable, as the Rockets have no way of knowing what they can expect from Steven Adams, who they acquired at the trade deadline.

The Rockets have also been linked to Clingan's collegiate teammate, Stephon Castle, who projects to be a tenacious defender on the wing and can create offense for himself and others. However, Castle may be eliminating himself from contention for the Rockets at number three, based on the latest rumblings, which state that Castle isn't willing to conduct workouts for teams that have established point guards. 

There are whispers of Stephon Castle and his camp potentially not being willing to do pre-draft workouts for teams with starting point guards already in place.

Castle views himself as a point guard, and he was a five-star recruit at the position before arriving at UConn.… pic.twitter.com/NgBssxzYWx

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) May 19, 2024

If true, Castle is making it known that he views himself as a point guard at the next level and doesn't want to share point guard minutes. This would also seem to eliminate the Rockets, as they have a true point guard in Fred VanVleet, who averaged 17.4 points, 8.1 assists, 1.7 turnovers, 41.6 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from deep (on a healthy volume of eight attempts), and 86.4 percent from the foul line.

VanVleet ranked third in assists-to-turnovers, which is perhaps one of the best metrics for a point guard. Furthermore, the Rockets also have Amen Thompson on the roster, whose natural position is point guard, although the Rockets used him more on the wing.

No matter how you slice it, the Rockets should be viewed as a team with a point guard, which seems to be the type of scenario that Castle is hoping to avoid.

Granted, this isn't guaranteed to work in his favor, as teams draft players without having workouts quite regularly. In fact, the Rockets didn't get a pre-draft workout with Jabari Smith Jr. in 2022, as he limited his workouts to just the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder, and they still drafted Smith at number three that year. 

If a team like the Rockets are interested in Castle, they'd obviously have final say over whether they'll draft him or not. But Castle is seemingly telling the Rockets that he isn't interested in going there, if there's any truth to these rumors.

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Rockets on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.