How A Young Player’s Role on a Team Impacts Their Future

As the 2025-2026 NBA season just had its last game, teams are turning their focus exclusively to the upcoming draft. With both of those events in mind, we got an interesting tidbit of information from one of the young finalists competing last week.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle gave some insight about the 2024 NBA Draft. That season’s number four overall pick was reportedly hoping to, “slide [his] way to San Antonio,” and avoid getting drafted by the Houston Rockets, per Sam Amick.

With a Rookie of the Year award and a Finals appearance in his first two seasons, it’s safe to say he made the right decision. The choice wasn’t just about playing with Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs organization though.

One of the main concerns he had is probably hampering the progression of the Rockets’ eventual selection that year, Reed Sheppard.

Houston’s soon to be 22 year old guard was stuck behind Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green, severely limiting his playing time as a rookie.

Even with neither one of those older guards playing for the Rockets this past season, many fans still thought Sheppard got pulled too quickly on several occasions. He averaged 26.2 minutes per game this season.

Looking at Stephon Castle’s season, he got an even 30.0 minutes after averaging 26.7 in his rookie season. That’s more than double Reed’s 12.6 minutes per game as a rookie.

It’s clear these guys had completely different roles on their teams. They still do, and that can have a drastic impact on any player’s development.

Neither player was a true lead guard or an old school point guard coming out, but rather combo guards. One got to work through their mistakes, and even through their lack of shooting though.

Reed Sheppard, on the other hand, barely got any opportunities and would get pulled out after a missed shot or defensive mistake. That’s just a complete confidence killer.

No time to really find a rhythm, no room for mishaps, just a requirement to be nearly perfect if you want playing time. That’s a lot of pressure for a young kid.

Add on the fact that Rockets head coach apparently preferred Castle over Sheppard, and that pressure intensifies. I just hope Reed’s lack of playing time isn’t partially due to some petty disagreement between coach and front office.

Obviously it’s impossible to tell, but I’m really curious if both players would still be the same in different scenarios. Would Reed have won Rookie of the Year in San Antonio? Would Ime Udoka have given Steph Castle more playing time if Houston selected him?

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