As the 2025-26 NBA season nears (preseason’s already begun!), the Sportscasting crew banded together to identify one particularly intriguing player for each team, someone whose performance, progress or stagnation could have grand consequences on the short- and/or long-term outlook for their club. Up next is the Southwest Division.
Let’s get to it.
Read our picks for most intriguing players in other Divisions: Southeast / Central / Atlantic / Northwest / Pacific
Dallas Mavericks: Max Christie
If you couldn’t tell from my infatuation with Jaylen Clark, I love a guy who can check superstars scorers. And two years ago, Max Christie stood out to me in that department.
Under a minute on the clock, Max stepped up & locked down 🗜️ pic.twitter.com/OVVUevXrj2
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 26, 2023
Unlike Clark, who uses his strength to bully ball-handlers off their spots, Christie uses his length (6-foot-9 wingspan) and quickness to follow guys around like their shadow right before sunset. He’s also growing as a shooter. Last year, he shot 36.6 percent from three on right around league average volume (45th percentile in 3-pointers per 75 possessions) and hit 85.2 percent of his free throws (83rd percentile) – giving him a good foundation to blossom into a reliable three-and-D role player for the Dallas Mavericks.
More than that, what really stands out is his upside as an off-the-dribble scorer. Last season, he averaged 14.1 points (60.9 percent true shooting) and 3.4 assists in February (11 games), showing the aptitude to potentially level up into something more than just a standstill shooter on offense.
Max Christie on his focus on conditioning and on-ball play during the offseason:
“For me, I just took it very seriously…I wanted, this summer, to kind of take a leap with my on-ball stuff and playmaking and creating…Being in shape is important for anybody, especially me where… pic.twitter.com/at7HnMGNVa
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) October 7, 2025
With Kyrie Irving set to miss most (if not all) of the 2025-26 season, the Mavericks will have no issue defending people but all the trouble in the world trying to generate offense. D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis will be the main guys tasked with this burden but they’ll need some help. This gives Christie the rare opportunity to explore his off-the-bounce game while also playing on a competent NBA team. Can he prove up to the challenge? Or, will his efficiency tank with a higher usage role? -Mat Issa
Houston Rockets: Reed Sheppard
Fred VanVleet’s preseason ACL injury left no choice but Sheppard for the Houston Rockets’ most intriguing player. They’ll depend on the third overall pick in 2024, to no fault of his own, to reach their ceiling in 2025. Houston’s guard room was barren with VanVleet in the fold. Without him, head coach Ime Udoka will lean on Amen Thompson and his shaky handle, Aaron Holiday and Sheppard, who didn’t crack the rotation as a rookie.
Early on, Sheppard played timidly last year, shying away from open looks and drives to the rim, despite being such a dominant shooter at Kentucky. He struggled to score throughout the season (minus-11.2 percent true shooting), with his size and lack of burst limiting his creation. Sheppard, who made 52.1 percent of 8.2 threes per 100 possessions in college, shot just 33.8 percent on 10.2 attempts per 100 possessions as a rookie.
During his few G League appearances, Sheppard dominated as any top pick should. There were moments where his college offense shone through. Sheppard’s shot fell and his elite floor processing and touch could flourish. In three games, he averaged 30.7 points (65.8 percent true shooting) and 8.3 assists, carving up defenses with pick-and-roll shot-making and crafty pull-up creation.
His elite hands and steal generation translated from college — Sheppard ranked fourth in the league in deflections per 100 possessions (seven) as a rookie. Even without elite size or length, he’s savvy and spry enough to add value for an elite Houston defense. But if the Rockets, now armed with All-NBA superstar Kevin Durant, hope to reach their ceiling, they’ll need Sheppard to catch up quickly on offense.
Even without efficient or high-volume scoring, VanVleet stabilized a defensively slanted Houston roster. At his peak, handling and physical development could help Sheppard run an efficient NBA offense. Based on his rookie season, he’s still far away from that point. While it’s not cause for long-term concern, accelerated development from Sheppard could catalyze a deep postseason run in Houston. -Ben Pfeifer
Memphis Grizzlies: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Everyone assumes that by trading Desmond Bane away, the Memphis Grizzlies got worse. But there’s a chance their roster may be the most complete it’s been since they entered this era and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope plays a huge part in fulfilling this prophecy.
During the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant-Jaren Jackson Jr.-Desmond Bane era, they lacked a true three-and-D wing who can provide spacing and elite perimeter defense. Caldwell-Pope has been one of the leading experts in this field for the better part of a decade (see his contributions to two different title teams, the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers and 2022-23 Denver Nuggets).
Caldwell-Pope had something of a down year in 2024-25. Although, that was more the byproduct of a slow start. After Jan. 1, he shot 47.8 percent from the floor and 39.2 percent from three. Plus, his defense was still rock solid (83rd percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes).
There is also evidence Morant, Jackson and Bane were an imperfect Big Three. Since 2021-22, when Morant, Bane and Jackson shared the floor (2,067 minutes), Memphis had a plus-7.5 net rating and a defensive rating of 111.1 (Per PBP Stats). Those are very good marks but a step below what we see with just Morant and Jackson out there (plus-13.1 net rating and 106.7 defensive rating). So, maybe Memphis won’t miss Bane as much as we think.
With all that said, Caldwell-Pope is no longer a spring chicken. This year will be his age-32 season and regression certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The looming threat of serious decline is why Caldwell-Pope is included in this series anyway. But if he can be the ace he’s been so many times in the past while Morant and Jackson can get healthy (a pretty massive “if”, given they’re both already sidelined), the Grizzlies could be a lot better than people think. -Mat Issa
New Orleans Pelicans: Jordan Poole
Listen, I’ve got a soft spot for Jordan Poole. His rise during the 2021-22 campaign is one of my favorite seasons from a player in recent memory. His audacity and slithery style are undeniably amusing to watch (when shots go in).
But after a poor showing in the 2022-23 playoffs made Poole’s large extension (four years, $128 million) no longer fathomable for the Golden State Warriors, he was banished to the lowly Washington Wizards for two seasons. The first season was a train wreck that validated the Warriors’ decision to part ways with him.
However, year two was quietly a successful one for the player everyone seemed to have written off. In 68 games, Poole averaged 20.5 points (59.2 percent true shooting, 66th percentile) and 4.5 assists on a team with few other reliable scorers/playmakers to lessen his offensive burden. He also flashed a renewed sense of pride on the defensive side of the ball, posting a career-high steal rate of 2.0 percent.
Now, he’s on a confusing New Orleans Pelicans team. On one hand, they have a lot of young players who need development (Jeremiah Fears, Yves Missi, Derik Queen and Jordan Hawkins). But on the other hand, they don’t have control over their 2025 first-round pick, so it behooves them to be as competitive as possible. And on a third hand (weird to think about, I know), they have guys ready to contribute to winning basketball right now (Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones, Dejounte Murray and Kevon Looney).
Is Poole just a reasonable facsimile to CJ McCollum (whom the Pelicans traded him for)? Or, does he have another gear he can reach as a scorer and distributor? If the version of Poole we get is closer to the first one, the Pelicans won’t be playing competitive basketball in April. But if Poole can build off last year’s success (remember, he’s still only 26), maybe New Orleans won’t be so bad after all. -Mat Issa
San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Castle
As the San Antonio Spurs pivot toward new priorities, aimed at immediate winning behind a top-five player in Victor Wembanyama, plenty of candidates feel deserving of this title. But fresh off a Rookie of the Year nod and season he often spent without San Antonio’s likely driving forces for success in 2025-26, Stephon Castle is my pick.
Castle’s role as a rookie was a bit topsy-turvy. He began the season sprinkling in periodic ball-handling reps while thriving as a cutter and working through kinks as a spot-up shooter. Then, De’Aaron Fox entered the fray to spearhead offense with Wembanyama and reduced Castle’s on-ball role. But the 2024-25 Fox-Wembanyama partnership was short-lived, spoiled by a season-ending blood clot in Wembanyama’s right shoulder. Fox’s year didn’t last much longer and he was shut down in mid-March because of tendon damage in his left pinky.
From there, the reins were handed to Castle and his numbers soared. Over the final 18 games of the year, he averaged 19 points (53.9 percent true shooting), 6.2 assists (3.1 turnovers) and 5.4 rebounds, flexing his potential as a snappy playmaker and strong-chested slasher. But this season, that same freedom and scope of opportunities won’t be available. Fox and Wembanyama will lead the offense while No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper, a gifted pick-and-roll operator, needs touches, too. That leaves Castle to find his own niche and positively contribute for a team eyeing the playoffs.
He’s proven himself a heady cutter and viable finisher (63 percent at the rim, 55th percentile among combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass). Can he exploit the defensive attention Wembanyama and Fox will command to be an effective play-finishing outlet? Despite a willingness to take threes, he only made 28.5 percent of them last year. Can efficiency accompany that confidence? What sort of impact can he provide as a connective passer in quick-hitting spots after the pick-and-roll prowess he’s debuted?
He’s a slippery screen navigator with some on-ball chops but is still filling in the other colors of his defensive rainbow. A step forward in that regard would certainly ease his fit with the rest of the roster, particularly given defense was among his most compelling pre-Draft traits.
Castle is a talented, skilled, rough-on-the-edges player whose developmental timeline feels pressurized and accelerated because of Wembanyama’s greatness. But the distinct situation doesn’t alter the hand he’s been dealt at 20 years old. He can undoubtedly help the 2025-26 Spurs. To what degree relies on plenty of murky variables I’m curious to see answered over the next many months. -Jackson Frank
