Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images The Spurs and their recent top-5 pick face increased expectations because of their earlier success, but inconsistency is common among young players and young teams. Stephon Castle returned to the starting lineup in two of the Spurs’ last four games due to an injury to Jeremy Sochan. The rookie shot 25 percent from the floor in those two matchups, made just one of nine of his three-pointers and had some bad moments on defense. His performance off the bench in between both starts wasn’t much better. In the past four games, San Antonio has come out on top once, an inspiring win over the Nuggets, and has lost the other three. A collapse against the Bulls and a blowout against the Bucks were disheartening for different reasons. The Spurs are currently outside the play-in spots, sitting at 11th in the West. It hasn’t been a good stretch for the Silver and Black and the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NBA draft. But the disappointment that’s come from it might be overblown to some extent because of raised expectations. Both Castle and the Spurs are suffering from their early-season success. Castle was part of a universally panned draft class. The experts were right, as no one except for Jared McCain, who is out for the season, is averaging over 12 points. Reed Sheppard, the third overall pick, was sent to the G League because there were no minutes for him in Houston. Zaccharie Risacher, the top pick, is a solid defender but an offensive disaster and Alex Sarr, the second pick, has improved recently but had a rough start to his season that was raising serious concerns about his future. No one from this group of rookies is lighting the league on fire. Castle isn’t the exception, as he’s shooting terribly from the floor and beyond the arc, has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and alternates between tantalizing defensive possessions and ones that serve as a reminder that he only has 36 NBA games under his belt. Castle has often been bad but also promising, as he was expected to be. The problem is he had a stretch earlier in the season in which he looked like he could be much better sooner than anticipated. In 17 games as a starter while Jeremy Sochan recovered from a broken finger, Castle averaged 14.6 points and 4.5 assists while shooting a still bad but not completely horrendous 40 percent from the floor and 31 percent on threes. During that stretch, he scored over 20 points four times and made 27 of his total 34 threes for the season. He had his ups and downs, but it felt like he was a better shooter than advertised, and he was acclimating to the NBA easily. The Spurs went 9-8 during that span and Castle was playing over 30 minutes per game and was part of a starting unit that was among the best in the league, in an admittedly small sample size. Of course the version of Castle since his return to the bench has disappointed compared to the previous one. Something similar happened with the Silver and Black in general. The Spurs were expected to win around 34 games coming into this season, and it was reasonable to think the projections were too optimistic, considering they won 22 the year prior and didn’t add any stars. The West was predicted to be a buzzsaw and it has been, with 10 teams having a .500 record or better and the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal Suns on track to miss the play-in. In that context, it should be no surprise that San Antonio, after suffering several injuries to projected starters and missing their legendary head coach, has a losing record. They were never supposed to be one of the top teams even under ideal circumstances, as the arrivals of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes were not seen as win-now moves, but rather as a means of establishing some order to a roster in flux. Before the season’s start, most fans would have been elated to know the team would have an 18-19 record near the halfway point, but the Spurs exceeded expectations early and are now measured differently. The first few games weren’t great but San Antonio started to get quality wins after a while, and hovering around .500 stopped seeming as impressive as originally. Victor Wembanyama turned into a superstar, Paul and Barnes proved to be not just good but great fits, and the Spurs were competing even with major absences. Some Western teams underperformed and suddenly it wasn’t the play-in that seemed attainable but a direct ticket to the playoffs. The Silver and Black didn’t have many signature wins but they were beating the opponents they were supposed to regularly and, despite a road-heavy schedule being on the horizon, the expectation was steady improvement, not letdown games. Despite perception, both the Spurs and their prized rookie are arguably doing better than originally expected. The team is on pace to win 40 games, which most fans would have considered a success in what was deemed a transitional season. Wemby is as good as projected and the veterans have helped. The group has been strong enough mentally that Gregg Popovich’s unexpected absence has not fazed them. As for Castle, his transition into a featured ball handler and creator is going well, as he makes good pick-and-roll reads and gets to the rim with his herky-jerky drives. The shot is bad but his athleticism off two feet has been a pleasant surprise, and he could be averaging a few more free throws a game if he got a normal whistle. He clearly has a future in the league. It’s perfectly fine to adjust expectations as the season goes along. There’s nothing wrong with hoping a player or a team will live up to the level they showed in the past. “It could be worse” is not a particularly inspiring battle cry, especially when there’s evidence that it could be much better. Complacency is not a virtue. It is important, however, to remember why the original expectations were established. Young teams and young players have their ups and downs, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen with San Antonio. Hopefully an upswing comes soon; but if it doesn’t, we’re already playing with house money.