Rockets Praised for Reed Sheppard Selection

Reed Sheppard is the main addition for the Houston Rockets this season.

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Reed Sheppard arrives for the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets didn't make many changes to their roster this season, but they did take Reed Sheppard with the No. 3 overall pick out of Kentucky.

It was the biggest move of the offseason, which earned praise from Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes.

"Sheppard is a hand-in-glove fit for a team that clearly signed Fred VanVleet to be a premium stopgap until its younger pieces were ready to take over control of the offense. Amen Thompson and Jalen Green are both promising enough that Houston could have targeted someone else, but it only took a few minutes of summer-league action for Sheppard to solidify himself as the best prospect (so far) in his class," Hughes writes. "There's a long, long way to go before Sheppard justifies the hype in the paragraph above. But the early signs suggest the Rockets nailed this pick."

Sheppard won't have an easy time earning minutes on a team with strong players all across the board. However, Sheppard may be good enough to play right away as a rookie.

His threat as a distance shooter already makes him worthy of playing time, but if he can get his defense on the level to where it needs to be, he may emerge as the best 3-and-D prospect for the Rockets moving forward.

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