Time for the Rockets to Fully Lean in on Reed Sheppard

It was known that the Rockets were going to give Reed Sheppard a much greater role, heading into the 2025-26 NBA season. Houston's front office utilized a top-three pick on the sharpshooting guard.

And they were relatively thin at the guard spot. They've always been. For years.

And they've lacked outside shooters. The stage was set for Sheppard to step in and make an impact.

He did, drawing comparisons to former MVP Steve Nash. And Mark Price, the four-time All-Star and All-NBA team member. Sheppard had been operating as a reserve guard in Rockets coach Ime Udoka’s rotations.

In spite of the Rockets' lack of point guards. Sheppard has thrived in the off-ball capacity, utilizing screens and picks to create enough separation for long enough to let off his outside shot. However, we've also seen him freeze defenses in the pick-and-roll action to kick it out to the open man.

The data suggests that Sheppard should be in the Rockets' stating lineup. Houston is now 13-4 when the Kentucky product starts.

Time for the Houston Rockets to Fully Lean in on Second-Year Guard Reed Sheppard

Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report explained.

"The Houston Rockets went undefeated this week and got even more evidence that they might just need to embrace sophomore Reed Sheppard as their starting point guard.

Sheppard had 27 points in Wednesday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Rockets moved to 13-4 when Sheppard starts.

Perhaps most importantly, Houston has a slightly better net rating when its best player, Kevin Durant, has a better net rating when sharing the floor with Sheppard than he does without him."

Sheppard has been the Rockets' x-factor this season. At least on the offensive end.

At least, one of them, alongside Jabari Smith Jr. Sheppard is averaging 13.6 points, 3.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 43 percent from the field, 39.6 percent from outside range and 80.7 percent from the foul line.

Sheppard is no Jason Kidd or John Stockton. He's not even Fred VanVleet.

But he's the Rockets' best table-setting point guard on the roster. In fact, he's the Rockets' only floor general at the guard spot.

Especially since they have not utilized HD Davison consistently. But even if they did, Davison was an undrafted free agent guard, whereas Sheppard was a lottery pick.

And he's got point guard traits and tendencies. He's the closest skillset match to VanVleet on the roster.

Houston is currently 48-29 and fifth in the Western Conference. It's safe to say that they wouldn't have had that success without Sheppard's contributions.