Charles Barkley Recommends Strategic Change for Rockets' Ime Udoka

The Houston Rockets have been in dire need of a point guard. They've needed one all season, really even before the campaign started.

Dating back to Fred VanVleet’s season-ending knee injury sustained during the team's minicamp in the Bahamas. Well, technically it's not a season-ending injury, because VanVleet could still return from his torn ACL within the last six weeks of the season.

So let's just call it a season-altering injury. But I'd be surprised if VanVleet returns this season. He's even softened the verbiage on his ability to come back, on multiple occasions.

The quickest ACL recovery seen in recent sports was that of future NFL Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson, who returned within nine months. VanVleet would be hoping to return from an identical injury within six months.

The Rockets haven't been able to identify a replacement for VanVleet's role. The trade deadline came and went. And Houston had about five months to make a move between VanVleet's injury and the trade deadline.

Well, technically four and a half months. Point withstanding. The only other opportunity to swoop in and nab a playmaking guard hinges on the buyout market.

Which, we'll find out about rather quickly. NBA legend and former Rockets All-NBA forward Charles Barkley has a simple suggestion for the Rockets, as it pertains to their point guard problem.

The outspoken talking head took to ESPN's Inside the NBA (formerly of Turner Sports) to explain

"I don't understand why they don't move Reed Sheppard to the point, Kenny. Well, I mean starting. Until they solve their problem. I think they should put Sheppard at the point. I really do."

.@FredVanVleet 🤝 @reed_sheppard pic.twitter.com/1pOnWz8tl9
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 2, 2026

Barkley isn't the only one with this take. A large faction of the Rockets' fanbase also shares it, including yours truly.

And while Sheppard isn't the second-coming of Jason Kidd or John Stockton, he possesses a skillset that no other player on the Rockets roster has. We've seen him operate as a pick-and-roll maestro and absolutely freeze defenses in the pick-and-roll action and kick out to Houston's open shooters.

No one else can do that. The obvious concern is his lack of defensive prowess, as we constantly see teams hunt him defensively. And his outside shot is rather inconsistent.

He just went scoreless in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against the Miami Heat. Yet and still, at this point of the season, Sheppard seems like Houston's best bet to be their high-functioning table-setter.