Reed Sheppard is the Rockets’ Franchise Player™

Cam can be effective playing the 2 spot if we part with Jalen.

If Reed's 70% TS translates even a bit this is a great pickup for a team that so badly needs shooting.

 

One thing analysts aren't considering is the refereeing changes. They say he's a great gambler—yeah, we can look at steal/block rates—but can he stay in front of PGs? Well, nobody can. There are very few guys who break someone down off the dribble. Normally they do it through pick and roll. And the few guys who are good enough to beat guys one on one, nobody stops them. That's done through a team plan.

But if the game is going to be more physical now, Sheppard is going to learn to do all that crafty (some might suggest dirty) stuff that CP3 and Lowry do. He's going to sneak in fouls like crazy, he's going to bump guys off their paths and get away with it, because he's so smart. JVV with league-best shooting and much better athleticism seems like a real shot—and that's a big star.

 

The Rockets finally have a player that if they are shooting the ball, I actually feel good that it will go in.

 

Reed's low/mid-level comp would be someone like Reddick, which is exactly what this Rockets team needs.

If he can add more passing/playmaking on top of lights out shooting he makes an even bigger impact as a secondary ball handler and possible eventual FVV replacement.

defense has to be at least to a point he can stay on the floor.

 

Stone said they had him as “the best player in the draft by quite a bit”. It’s also nice that he's a great fit. His stats are off the charts and his tape backs it up. It’s like people are stretching to find things wrong with him. Watch this interview.

 

I’m super excited about this pick. It wasnt even a need pick. I honestly thought he was the best player at #3. Since we don’t have much of a chance at high lotto picks the next 2 yrs I’m glad they took one last shot on Reed. Some times special players don’t come in the package you expect. I sincerely believe we won’t regret this pick. Props to the rockets front office for not going all in on the extreme of the win-now now strategy. Yes we have young guys, but we should continue to be aggressive in adding young talent if it can be special. Reed has a chance to be special. I’m a happy man tonight.

 

I'm expecting Sheppard to be a staple at the 3-pt shooting contest

 

Re-watched highlights and re-evaluated with a clear slate. I'm hopeful he will be a future PG and maybe a really good one with a pure shot and defensive tenacity. Let's go!

 

My guess about how we'll use Reed at first:

Either Jalen Green or Sengun... they're getting double teamed and we try to alleviate that double team by putting him out there to hit wide open threes. If he hits them, he stays out there until Jalen and Sengun fire up again. Then other teams are forced to adjust by picking on an undersized six foot one guard on the defensive side and Reed is pulled. Rinse/repeat until the league figures it out. Meanwhile, Reed figures out how to play defense against the reactions of how he's being exploited.

That's why we drafted Reed. He will definitely make other teams adjust. Clingan would've been no different. He would allow us to shut down the rim a different way, force defenses to attack a different way, then we'd take Clingan off the court when they had us.

This pick bolstered us with Reed and his shooting. He makes Jalen and Sengun better. Potentially, Clingan only made the center position better when Sengun was off the court. We do have Jock, Steven Adams and that's not a bad backup plan if Sengun isn't doing it on defense.

Amen, Cam... those dudes just got challenged by this draft pick. Jalen too, but maybe not as much because of his ability to use Reed's shooting to open himself up. Jalen's challenge (as a result of Reed's drafting) is about his ability to pass Reed the ball when Reed is open. I'm not sure Jalen would find that challenge to be a challenge. His issue is about refining location and where shooters like to get the ball before they do shoot.

Overall, I'm happy with Reed. I preferred Clingan only because I thought the franchise was doubling down on defense. We drafted Jabari, Tari, Amen... that's defensive minded. We inked Ime. That's defense. Clingan? That's a defensive minded player.

Acceptance of fortune is not a weakness of mine. We have a brilliant shooter in the fold. I look forward to what Reed's going to bring us.

Spacing. Transition. Vision.

I hope he wants to add championship defense. That's everything in Houston, Texas.

 

It's actually easy, first he takes all of Holidays minutes which is not insignificant. If he shoots well, he can take some of FVVs minutes, we played Fred way too much last season especially given his age and deteriorating knees.

It will really be match up and performance dependent. It's really not that hard to slide in a shooter when he's hot.

If Green is bricking from 3's, you take him out for Reed. If FVV is in a slump you put Reed in with Amen etc.

 

Also noticed Reed’s mom giving Dillingham a big hug when his name was called. I’m all in on the Sheppards

 

I love the pick, even if he's just an important role player. I'm not expecting a superstar, but if he can be a reliable three point threat that's going to help this team quite a bit. Plus he seems like a good dude. He seems like he could moonlight as your waiter at Olive Garden, and you can't really say that about anyone else on the team. I like that about him.

 

The racial comps are so boring. Reddick didn't hit 40% of his 3s until his junior year, and his best was 42% senior year, compared to Sheppard's 52% freshman year. Also, Reddick couldn't create his own shot, couldn't dribble, couldn't pass—which he's talked about plenty. How he couldn't do anything but shoot when he got to the NBA and had to work really hard to become more than that. And he was nowhere near the athlete Sheppard is. Reddick's best shot-blocking rate was 0.2% and Sheppard was 2.5%

 

Yeah, if they could get JVV down to 30mpg without the team falling apart, that would be swell. That has as much to do with Amen as anyone.

 

Sigh. I'm gonna regret this but. My point is not the facts of your analysis. It is the way in which you are phrasing/stating your analysis that suggests you care more about being right and sticking it to the posters who disagreed with you rather than the Rockets success. The terms you use such as 'morons', 'grief', 'confuse', 'told', etc. The constant use of first person that suggest your importance in the arguments/analysis. Phrases like "I want Reed funneled to the trees I have waiting for him' which makes it seem that you want that to happen in order to prove your point rather than have the Rockets figure out a way to make Reed succeed.

Now I think your criticisms definitely have merit. It is all probability outcomes whether the flaws in Sheppard's and/or Amen's games can be fixed/improved or not, and those flaws are definitely there. I just think it is still too soon to say any of these guys are set in stone and they are what they are, so we will see if they grow. Don't get me wrong, I still don't know if the Rockets have any truly future All NBA guys on this team yet, but I can see how some of them could get there. Odds are that only 1 or 2 guys from this core will really improve to be a star level player. And even then they need at least one guy who could flirt with 1st team All-NBA to have any shot at consistent deep playoff runs.

As per Sheppard, if you draft him and stick him in a spot like they did with Ariza/Gordon in the Harden era, then yes the Rockets have utterly failed him. With the team as assembled -- 4 guys are supposed to have high BB IQ (Alperen, FVV, Amen and Shep) and be good passers, and other athletic guys who are all good cutters and some who are supposed to good shooters -- this team should be using some sort of motion, read-and-react style offense. They probably don't have the skill personnel to pull off GSW's version and they have different strengths compared to say OKC's. I would kill for a revamped version of Adelman offensive system with this group. Yes, that will take time to work and for them to learn it well, but i honestly think that would be the best way to maximize all their gifts and help hide some of the current flaws/holes in their games. Don't know if that will be enough to win enough possessions versus the looks/schemes as well as elite players you refer to, but we will just have to see.

But your posts just come off as so defeated and that you feel it is all going to fall apart anyways, but if that happens you are okay because then you can then say you predicted that outcome as if that is some sort of victory. What is the point of that as a Rockets fan?

 

Yepyepyep. Count me in. We got the sniper wohooooo

 

Note, Reddick was mentioned as a low/mid comp for a player of not tremendous positional size or wingspan whose only elite skill is shooting. If we get a 14 year player who averages 25 minutes per game and 41-42% from 3 that is a fair low/mid outcome for Reed. If his playmaking hits and he isn't unplayable for getting blown by then he can be more than that, which would be great.

 

I haven't seen much of him (just some scouting reports). But TO me I hope he develops into a FVV player with a better shot. People are saying he is smart and makes the right pass. And I will always bet on the Smart NBA players (especially if they have another elite skill).

I do not think he will be a star. But I think he will be a great role player.

 

3-4 years down the road, hopefully we'll see a closing lineup of Alperen, Jabari, Tari, Cam, and Reed in the NBA finals

 

Such a weird draft. At the top it basically came down to the question: do you take the player with all the physical tools and hope he can develop more skills or do you take a player with all the skills but without the physical tools.

Risacher and Sarr both have all the physcial tools, but in order to succeed they absolutely have to develop their skills (playmaking and dribbling for Risacher and playmaking and shooting for Sarr). Sheppard has all the tools (though not elite at creating his own shot), but he is small, has a short wingspan, lacks lateral quickness and can easily get bullied at the point of attack).

I am kinda torn on what I would prefer. But it is hard to bet against someone with Sheppards skillset, feel for the game (probably either best in his draft class or second behind Topic), character and work ethic. And it is not like he is that small...

If he is a Divicenzo or McConnell type player, that is still a very valuable asset to a team. And I believe that should be close to his floor. I can easily see him turn into a FVV with a better shot. And I do believe there is a small chance, that he can turn into a star (in the Trey Young mold, worse in playmaking, better on defense).

I also really like his fit next to Amen - they compliment each other perfectly. He should also fit right in with Sengun. So yeah, I am really happy we got him.