Ime Udoka Compares Reed Sheppard to Spurs Hall of Famer, Four-Time NBA Champion

Reed Sheppard's second NBA season has more than lived up to his draft position in the 2024 NBA Draft. The Houston Rockets made Sheppard the third overall selection, which they were gifted by way of Lady Luck in the draft lottery, as a result of the Rockets' trade with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, which saw franchise legend and icon James Harden swap jerseys, coasts and conferences.

Sheppard didn't garner much fanfare as a rookie, mostly because he didn't get enough playing time to contribute. The Rockets were a team that wanted to make a title chase. Rookies get lost in the sauce sometimes.

All offseason, we'd heard that the top-heavy Rockets envisioned a greater role for Sheppard in year two. Fred VanVleet’s ACL tear in the team's minicamp guaranteed an increased role for Sheppard. For months, he'd be used as a microwave scorer off the bench, due to his ability and capability to bring instant buckets.

He can get hot on any night within a moment's notice. However, he's shown himself to be capable of more than just scoring.

He has legitimate point guard abilities, which is paramount for a team lacking that skillset. Amen Thompson is a wing player who has been forced to play on-ball guard.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka has given Sheppard some reps as the team's point guard, but not frequently. And certainly not consistently.

We've even seen Udoka insert Sheppard into the team's starting lineup, but it's mostly been due to an injury to another one of the team's starters.

Udoka took to SportsTalk 790, the official flagship of the Rockets, to speak with Matt Thomas of The Matt Thomas Show to explain Sheppard's value, while also pointing out the balancing act between offensive and defensive gameplanning.

"People see the scoring and highlight plays and kind of get fixated with that, but there's a balance to a team. Whether you're looking at it from a defensive standpoint, with the starting lineup or offensive standpoint. You lose certain things with Fred being out and Dillon being gone.

And so we want to replace that and maintain your identity, as far as that.

Fred being gone this year and our two main handlers being out there together at the start of the game, in Amen and Reed, it's easier to stagger those guys.

Definitely a consideration for us and he's started at times."

Udoka then compared Sheppard to NBA Hall of Famer and four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili.

"I take it to a guy like Manu Ginobili, who I've been around, played with, coached.

Whether it's Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams, all those guys are valuable for that specific reason.

Reed is fine with whatever. If Reed was as concerned as the rest of the world, I don't think he'd be where he's at right now.

We'll look at everything. As always, since I've been here, whoever finishes and who's playing well is going to be in there at the end. And that's honestly more important to us."

Ginobili is an NBA legend and Hall of Famer. He won four championships with the San Antonio Spurs.

That's rather high praise for Sheppard. And also, that player comparison should qwell all concerns about Sheppard being in Udoka's dog house. Ditto for Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams.

Those guys also had great careers and may also find themselves in the Basketball Hall of Fame.