One Area Reed Sheppard Exceled in This Season, and One Area He Struggled

The Houston Rockets were among the busiest teams in the league in the first round until the last NBA draft. From 2021 to 2024, the Rockets had seven picks in the top 20, with four of them coming in the top four of the lottery.

Those lottery picks were a byproduct of multiple seasons where the Rockets finished with the worst record or near the bottom of the standings. After the James Harden trade, the Rockets went all in on the youth movement, hoping to build the team from the ground up.

The Rockets, like most lottery teams, struggled to generate wins as the young players continued to gain experience. The Rockets struggled with turnovers and consistency on offense, especially from the 3-point line. After a few seasons, the Rockets shifted to win-now mode and began bringing in more veteran players, such as Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks.

The Rockets saw improvement on the court, going from 22 wins in 2023 to 41 in 2024. Even with the improvement in the win column, the Rockets still had several areas they needed to improve in, especially beyond the arc.

The Rockets were hoping to find a player in the 2024 draft who could help improve their bottom-10 3-point shooting, and that is the main reason they drafted Reed Sheppard with the fourth overall pick. Sheppard played one season at the University of Kentucky, where he led the nation in 3-point shooting.

Sheppard comes from a long line of basketball players, as both his mother and father played basketball at Kentucky on an elite level. The Rockets hoped that Sheppard could bring the type of shooting they have lacked for the last several seasons.

Sheppard, like many rookies, struggled to adjust to the NBA's pace, especially on defense, as teams constantly targeted him. Sheppard didn't get much playing time in his rookie season, spending some time in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The hope was that with a full season under his belt, he would be able to take on more responsibility and receive more minutes in year two. Even before the injury to VanVleet, Head Coach Ime Udoka expected Sheppard to be a larger part of the rotation.

After the injury to VanVleet, Sheppard’s role became even more prominent as the second-year guard would play a major role in the Rockets' backcourt. Sheppard showed improvement across the board in year 2, but of course, like any young player, he still has plenty of room for improvement. In part three of my series, I write about the one area where Sheppard excelled and the one area that still needs improvement.

Where Reed Sheppard excelled, and the one area he still needs to improve

With VanVleet's injury, Sheppard saw his minutes spike from 12.6 to 26.2 in his second season. With the increased minutes, Sheppard finished with career highs in almost every category, including, of course, points per game, rebounds, and assists.

Another area in which Sheppard improved was his 3-point shooting. Sheppard shot only .338 percent in his rookie season, but in year two, he increased that percentage to .394, while increasing his attempts per game by over 4.

Sheppard was one of the few Rockets who not only shot a high percentage but also attempted more than five 3-pointers a game. The Rockets were one of the lowest-volume 3-point shooting teams in the league, so Sheppard's contributions were even more important.

Sheppard shooting helped spread the court, especially for players like Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, as teams packed the paint constantly against the Rockets. Sheppard finished second on the team in percentage beyond the arc and first in attempts.

Despite the many improvements from Sheppard on offense from a shooting perspective and as a playmaker, he still struggled at times on the defensive end of the court.

Just as in his rookie season, teams targeted Sheppard in pick-and-rolls and in one-on-one situations. Even though Sheppard improved as a defender, the Rockets had to hide him at times or roll defensive coverages to his side of the court. In the Rockets' first-round loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Lakers made a point to target Sheppard on almost every possession.

Sheppard did put up a fight, especially when switched onto players like DeAndre Ayton and Jaxon Hayes, but the Lakers managed to score more times than not with Sheppard as the primary defender. Of course, that wasn't the main reason for the Rockets' first-round loss, but it did play a role.

For Sheppard to go from a promising young player to a full-time starter, he will have to be less of a liability on the defensive end. Sheppard's frame is something he may never be able to change, but he has to become a more reliable defender. Sheppard will never be an elite defender, but he will need to become a reliable one for his game to take the next step in the 2026-27 season.

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