Rockets Kevin Durant Shouts out Reed Sheppard on Social Media

This won't be the last time.

Oct 27, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard (15) warms up prior to the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets' point guard situation has been discussed endlessly. Starting point guard Fred VanVleet suffered a season-ending ACL tear, which required surgery. 

The injury happened after the Rockets' spending spree in the summer, leaving them with no way to replace him externally, outside of trading a key rotational role player, which the front office is surely not excited to do.

The thought was that Amen Thompson would be able to fill in as the full-time starting point guard, while Reed Sheppard would take on a significantly larger role.

Nine games into the Rockets' season, neither has happened. Not quite.

Thompson has proven that he's a slashing wing, by skillset. Not a traditional point guard by any stretch.

In fact, it does him a disservice to try to pigeon-hole him into that role.

And it plays into the hands of the opposition. 

He's having a good season, granted, to the tune of 17.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, on 48.1 percent from the field (which is a slight regression).

On most nights, Thompson at point guard will work, against subpar teams.

As it pertains to Sheppard, he's starting to really come into his own. He made plays all throughout Sunday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, so much that Houston wouldn't have pulled that victory off without him.

Afterwards, Rockets superstar forward Kevin Durant gave him his flowers, posting him on his Instagram account.

Kevin Durant just posted this on his Instagram: https://t.co/8Rl1VRgC1R pic.twitter.com/1n4c25I6Oa

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) November 10, 2025

Sheppard is starting to seemingly gain the gradual trust of Rockets coach Ime Udoka, as his minutes have increased.

In Sunday's win, he played starter-level minutes (29 minutes), allowing him to make more plays.

In Houston's NBA Cup opener to the San Antonio Spurs, Sheppard played 26 minutes.

Again, he's starting to get more playing time. However, when he's been on the court, he still hasn't played the point guard spot.

But he's shooting lights out -- to the tune of 47.9 percent, which ranks 18th in the entire league.

And his defense has really been stellar, and that doesn't feel like it's giving enough credit.

His passing ability has been on display of late also, as he threw a cross-court dime pass to Tari Eason after getting a steal on Sunday and threw a sweet bounce pass in the pick-and-roll to Steven Adams in Friday's loss to the Spurs.

Sheppard's playmaking ability, defensive ability, and shooting ability combined will make him a key player for the Rockets moving forward, even if not at the point guard spot.