The Latest: Spurs' Summer League Practice, Stephon Castle Signs Rookie Contract

Takeaways from the Spurs' Summer League practice and Stephon Castle signing his rookie scale contract.

Tuesday the San Antonio Spurs signed rookie Stephon Castle to his rookie scale contract and they had a Summer League practice. Here’s the topics we’ll dive into in the latest edition of The Latest:

• Sidy Cissoko on recovering from knee surgery, first impressions of Castle, and comments on Wemby

• David Duke Jr. on his defensive potential and getting a qualifying offer from the Spurs

• Summer League Head Coach Kenny Trevino on Cissoko’s injury recovery and early impressions of Castle, as well as Trevino becoming the Summer League Head Coach

• A breakdown of Stephon Castle’s rookie scale contract

Before jumping in, here’s a quick video of Castle running the pick-and-roll at practice and finishing a layup with the hesitation dribble. The video footage came from the Spurs:

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Sidy Cissoko’s Interview

Cissoko’s knee situation

Cissoko said when he was playing in the G-League with the Austin Spurs last season, he started to notice some pain in his knee. When he was called up to play with San Antonio, he said his knee began to swell. He underwent surgery in May to clean up the injury around his knee, and now he’s working his way back to playing in some of the Spurs’ Summer League games.

Cissoko is already practicing with the team, and he said he expects to play in both the Sacramento and Las Vegas Summer Leagues, but SL Head Coach Trevino only mentioned that Cissoko would play in some of the Vegas games (full quote below).

Role in Summer League

Cissoko said he expects to have a similar role that had last season with the Spurs in Austin, where the team will be relying on his defense. He does think he’ll have to be more vocal, as the rookies will be looking at him as veteran player going into their first Summer League.

Cissoko on Stephon Castle

“He don’t talk a lot yet,” said Cissoko of Castle being quiet through the first few days of being in San Antonio. “He’s a great guy, energy guy, he can do everything on the court.”

When asked if he has defended Castle yet or if Castle has defended him, Cissoko said no, because they’ve been on the same team during early scrimmages.

“He’s aggressive,” said Cissoko of Castle defensively.

Cissoko on Wemby

Cissoko said before Victor Wembanyama departed for France for the Olympics, he was looking stronger. Cissoko also had the media laughing when he said it always seems like Wemby is getting taller each time he sees him.

“He looks like he’s still growing up. One day he looks like he’s 7’3”, 7’4”, and the next day, he’s like 7’5”, so we’re still trying to figure out.”

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David Duke Jr.’s Interview

Duke Jr. said the defensive end of the floor is his main focal point, because that end of the floor could lead to him carving a role out for himself:

“That’s number one, for me, that’s my priority. I think that’s what’s going to get me on the floor, keep me on the floor, keep me in rotations, just utilizing my defensive gifts that I have and then from there, building out and expanding other parts of my game as well.”

Before free agency began Sunday, the Spurs sent Duke Jr. a $1.8 million qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. Here’s Duke Jr. on getting that qualifying offer from the Spurs.

“For me, it shows they value me, they want me back. It’s a good feeling to be wanted by a team, especially at this level.”

“Just grow, find a role, and really just maximize and perfect that role to a T,” said Duke Jr. of his mindset as he goes forward in his career.

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Summer League Head Coach Kenny Trevino’s Interview

As mentioned above, while Cissoko expects to play in both the Sacramento and Vegas Summer League games, Trevino had different remarks:

“He’s recovering. We’re looking forward to seeing him a little bit in Vegas, but he had a good ramp up process, we saw him out there today. He looked great.”

Trevino also gave his early impressions of coaching Castle and seeing him out on the floor:

“He’s a stoic person. He’s even-keeled. Any mistake he makes, he doesn’t really show it too much. Any good play he makes, he doesn’t show it too much. He’s even-keeled, which is a good thing. When he starts to play well, you will start to see some of that emotion, but he carries it on the defensive end a lot. He’s had a good two days. He’s fought through some adversity and he’s responded well.”

Trevino’s Summer League Head Coaching Journey

In the past, the Spurs have given some staff members elevated roles during the Summer League. This is the case for Trevino, who is the Spurs’ Video Coordinator, but for Summer League, he’ll be elevated to the Head Coaching role.

Trevino said he’s from the South Texas area. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and then at 18, he moved to San Antonio. He graduated from UTSA and he originally started working with the Spurs as a ball boy.

He’s since risen to the role of video coordinator. Asked which former Spur gave him the toughest time as a ball boy?

“Manu a little bit, I’ll say Manu,” said Trevino with a smile.

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Stephon Castle’s Rookie Scale Contract

Tuesday morning, Castle officially signed his rookie scale contract.

Here are the details of his contract for his upcoming first five seasons in the NBA: