Spurs’ Castle to Return Monday; Mavericks Hire Eisley, Preview Thompson’s Role, Rockets Eye Regular-Season Rotations, China Game Confirmed
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Stephon Castle, last season’s Rookie of the Year, is expected to make his preseason debut for the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. The 20-year-old guard sat out the club’s first three exhibition contests with a right knee contusion sustained on Oct. 4 during the team’s Silver & Black scrimmage when he knocked knees with Victor Wembanyama. With De’Aaron Fox projected to miss the start of the regular season, Castle is in line to open the year as San Antonio’s starting point guard.
Mavericks Bring In Eisley, Evaluate Thompson’s Matchups
The Dallas Mavericks have added former NBA guard Howard Eisley to their front office as a scout. Eisley recently served on Juwan Howard’s staff at the University of Michigan and previously held assistant-coaching positions with the Knicks, Wizards, and Clippers.
During a recent preseason meeting with Charlotte, head coach Jason Kidd used Klay Thompson against Hornets playmaker LaMelo Ball. Kidd said the experiment showed Thompson can still handle demanding defensive assignments but stressed the team will not ask him to take on that role every night.
Rockets Fine-Tune Minutes and Schemes
Houston closes its preseason with games on Tuesday and Thursday. Head coach Ime Udoka plans to push starters into the mid-20s to 30-minute range while introducing more advanced offensive and defensive sets to mirror regular-season usage, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Mavericks, Rockets Heading to China in 2026 Preseason
Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont confirmed in comments reported by the South China Morning Post that Dallas and Houston will meet in Macau during next year’s NBA China Games. The matchup will mark the league’s return to China for preseason action.
Source: Hoops Rumors
