(ESPN) Jeremy Woo: Rockets have interest in Sheppard, with both the FO and ownership intrigued

Do not discount the business side of this decision -- Tilman sure won't. Reed Sheppard can be the face of the franchise and is a lot of fun to watch when he's shooting and distributing. That's got a lot of value for the franchise (tickets, merchandise, media, etc). I don't see anyone else in this draft with that type of appeal. Obviously the on-court skills and talent is paramount when evaluating prospects, but the business side is more than a tiebreaker in Reed's favor.

 

So you think roleplayers are the face of the franchise? Even if we declare Jalen Green a bust, there's still several players who are both more skilled than Reed and higher than him on the hierarchy. Y'all are actually insane at this point. ****ing face of the franchise lmao...

 

Thought I'd post this here as a counteraction to all the gaslighting attempts of Sengtards telling me I was lying when i listed these weaknesses for Sheppard. Feel free to b**** at Vecenie for his words, these aint mine.

"Sheppard is undersized by any measure. At the combine, he measured 6-1 3/4, with a 6-3 1/4 wingspan and an extremely low 7-9 1/2 standing reach. I’m not sure how exactly that standing reach figure was so low, but it is noteworthy, regardless. He will be one of the smaller guards in the NBA next season. On top of that, he’s not overly shifty. He isn’t a below-average athlete, but he doesn’t quite get as much out of his athleticism when he has the ball as he should. His game doesn’t feature any force. He can absorb contact, but rarely initiates it. As he doesn’t have that immense burst, if his momentum gets stopped, it can take him an extra split-second to get it going again.

The most notable place these weaknesses pop up for scouts is when Sheppard is serving as an on-ball creator. Can he consistently separate from his man? More generally, given his size, can he play point guard? I wouldn’t label his handle creative, and as mentioned above, he’s not that shifty with the ball in his hands. He was at his best when he was decisive this year, especially in semi-transition, but he won’t cross defenders up with multiple strung-together moves off the bounce. Opponents must always account for the threat of his shot, but is that enough for him to generate paint touches? He took only one shot per game at the rim in halfcourt settings, a remarkably low number for a player who will likely end up having to play some point guard.

Sheppard needs a ball screen to get dribble penetration. Once he takes that screen, can he consistently collapse defenders and force help? Can he turn the corner on drop defenders? Will the best on-ball defenders the NBA, who possess elite length and quickness, have much trouble staying in front of him? An honest question at Kentucky, at times, was whether he could beat bigs on switches. If Sheppard can’t consistently get into the paint in the NBA, he may turn into more of an undersized off-guard. He’s such a good shooter and off-ball player that he’ll still be an NBA player if that’s the case, but he would have less upside and wouldn’t return highlottery value. Ultimately, Sheppard’s handle will be his swing skill. Can he find a way to maximize it and add some creativity or juice? Does the increased space around him on the NBA court allow him wider lanes to get into the paint? If this part of his game hits, he will be a star. If it doesn’t, he'll be more of a role player.

Sheppard’s playmaking on defense is real, but there are some flaws NBA teams will exploit. His lack of strength shows up significantly. While he’s generally able to stay in front of his man, Sheppard does, at times, get moved out of the way too easily. Occasionally, a decisive move will burn him. Those shortcomings make him a less effective on-ball defender, which will only be exacerbated in the NBA. Sheppard will likely be hunted for switches at the next level due to his height. He needs to prove that he can hold up in such scenarios and not let the best players get to their spots easily. The pros who have figured it out at this size on defense — Chris Paul and Fred VanVleet, for instance — have tended to be strong through the lower half of their body. Sheppard has a lot of the savant-like tendencies of those two players and he fights through screens like them, but he currently lacks their lower-body strength.

Additionally, Sheppard’s off-ball defense was inconsistent possession-by-possession. He had a lot of moments when he looked lost in space and was caught ballwatching. He has the instincts and the reactivity to recover, but because of his size, he has a small margin for error. He needs to be locked in all the time on that end of the court."

Seems I'm not the only one who doesn't see the PG savant y'all have created in your minds.

 

Interesting.

This was him talking about Sheppard 2 days ago.

@ the 25 minute mark.

 

I think the standing reach anomaly was how he was able to game the vertical testing. After deliberating on it for a while and having Sheppard as my first choice among the guards I have pivoted to Rob Dillingham. If Sheppard is having a hard time making shots what else can he do? Sure he's ok on defense, but he is in no way, shape or form a defensive specialist. He would be on the court for what he provides as a shooter mainly. If defenses lock him up he's just a guy out there. Dillingham offers you more natural passing and handles to be a lead guard in the NBA with almost the same shooting and a much deeper creation bag.

 

So basically a smaller version of Sheppard who is significantly worse at almost everything is your guy? Lol.

 

Oh yeah that's 100% what he's done, he admitted it. His vertical is not what it showed because he deliberately tanked his standing reach to make it look like he's a lot bouncier than he is. I actually think he put that line in there tongue-in-cheek to be like "yeah that's bullshit he gamed it." I still want Sheppard, but yeah the hype train aint holding up to ANY scrutiny. Guess those Sengtards should watch more than just Sengun videos.

 

Such a weird argument... so what's the most he could realistically "game" it without it being so obvious they catch him and make him do it over again? Maybe an inch or two?

Okay... so add two inches to his standing reach and say he got a 40 inch vertical... that still puts him as one of the best in the draft class.

On top of that, the springs show up in the game film that I'm sure you didn't watch.... it's part of how he averaged almost a block a game.

You guys just come off as desperate to come up with anything

 

Sheppard will not be a role player -- he'll be a team leader. No one is declaring Jalen Green a bust. Green should be a role player -- he's a scorer, and unfortunately an inefficient one. His defense is lacking and his IQ and leadership qualities are poor. Reed is exactly the opposite. An efficient scorer, in control, and smart. We are already long on athletes (Amen, Cam, Jalen, Tari). We need more skill (shooting), savvy, and IQ.

 

As a reminder, we gave a $128 million contract to Fred Van Vleet, who is shorter than Reed Sheppard. The height argument doesn't apply in the Rockets front office.

 

Just in general, it's weird given nearly all of the best PG's in the entire history of the game have been Sheppard's size or smaller.

 

Name me a single white one.

 

Reed has to show that he can run the point ala Tyus along with his 3 point shooting. Dillingham 's weak physique and poor defense is the only reason why he's not in the top 3.

 

So it's a racist thing for you?


Also... Stockton, Nash, Kidd....

 

Nash and Kidd are a bit bigger, but you could throw in Mark Price.

 

Hard to say what their real height is given it was from a time when the measurements cited in the NBA were as valid as those cited in the WWF.

Either way, we're not talking about a substantive difference

 

In this instance, it literally was.... which is fine so long as they own it.

 

Vecenie puts him #2 in his big board...

 

Whilst saying that he's likely to be a roleplayer. Did you even read his draft guide? He flat out states that nobody in this draft is what y'all are projecting Sheppard to be. How embarrassing for you...