Sat next to a Rockets scout on a plane the other day- he said the Rockets were still high on Reed. Other info I posted in the main KD thread.
That’s fair. The extra length certainly does help White defensively. I think the coaching staff can certainly scheme up to help keep Reed on the floor.
Don't have a large enough sample size to make that assessment...it takes at least 3 years to assess a player's ceiling. Reed got limited minutes last season though he struggled initially before getting assigned to the G-league. Eye test shows Reed has a high IQ, great shooting touch, and marginally improving as a defender...he'll be in a better position this year with having natural spacing with KD, Sengun, and Amen as our primary playmakers. We just need to unlock the "Cocaine Curry" that's within him. The more confident he is the better our team will perform <- bookmark this statement for this upcoming season!
Keeping Reed Sheppard is a gamble. With a lot of improvement, he might become a Payton Pritchard-level player in 3 years. He might end up as a Cam Payne-level player- a useful backup PG. He could be Killian Hayes- a guy struggling to find a roster spot in the league. The Rockets currently have one of the 3 best rosters in the NBA. We're not in a place to develop a guy who is not a good basketball player currently. As to your assessment, Reed's jumper is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, it doesn't go in very often. He has shown very little else in the NBA thus far. We're better off trading for Payton Pritchard than hoping Reed Sheppard becomes a comparable player. We don't need to hope.
I really doubt Castle would have gotten any more minutes than Shepard did here last season because of the shooting, That's the primary reason Shepard didn't play more, he was shooting like crap, they'd have done just what they did and played Green / FVV big minutes with Amen getting the backup minutes when either went to the bench ...They were trying to win, not develop players. If he was drafted here, no way he wins ROY.
Half of the NBA has caught up in Ball IQ....it's not the Cocaine Drugs era or the Stromile Swift all hops era. Compared to Jalen and KPJ, of course that stood out ....most Euros are fundamentally sound and good IQ wise.
Reed Sheppard averaged 19.5ppg in 3 starts for us last season...he's no scrub bro! Also, it took Payton Pritchard 5 seasons to get to where he's at now. With our current roster construct and give Reed 28mpg, he'll average 14ppg as well
If summer league is any indication (it’s usually not) Reed Sheppard looks like he has the skill set of Garrison Matthews with the body of a point guard. Im a rockets die hard fan, and he seems like a really likable person, but man… I just still cant understand why he was viewed as a top 3 prospect. I don’t get it, but really really hope im wrong.
Did you watch his three NBA starts toward the end of last season? (It's small sample size, but so are SL games.) He did show flashes. Part of prospect evaluation is to project the player's ceiling by observing these flashes. They don't always turn out solid, as we have seen in cases like Jalen Green and Cam Whitmore. But there are also positive examples like Sengun. I am also guessing that Reed did well enough in practice for them to still believe in him so much so that they didn't go out to get a veteran backup PG as insurance.
I did, and just my take on it is I saw alot even in those games of what I'd see with a wing streak shooter. Even if he was bringing the ball up on some plays, ultimately his skillset he was showing me was something in the spectrum of Troy Daniels to JJ Reddick. I just don't see a point guard here, or a lead guard in general like the sort of modern day NBA star guard is. Again though... I'm really rooting against myself here though. I just don't see a top prospect here who can be either that lead guard, or a true starting PG.
Chris Paul shot 28% from 3 his rookie year. I think Reed is in that mold. The only thing he has in common with Reddick is skin color. They could not be any more different skillset wise. Reed is a PG through and through. He isnt a combo guard. Basically what FVV is. Who is another "CP3 like".
I liked what I saw when he started against OKC. He's got potential. That second Vegas game, though... Let's hope that stays in Vegas.
The coaches and the rest of the team are with Reed in practice. If they are high on him then it's easy to be excited. The fact that Jabari, Tari, and Amen all attended SL to watch Reed those first few games is and indication to me that he's one of them. If Reed is averaging 14 ppg on good eff. by the all-star break would you consider him a success for this season? I would. I also believe that if he eventually makes an all-star game, say within the next 5 years, then I would say he has been wildly successful. Truth is, I hope he becomes a HOF but right now I'm just wanting 14 ppg on good efficiency. What about you?
I know I'm just being annoying, but I have to respond to these posts about how Reed doesn't look like a PG. (yes I've posted these already, but I will keep doing so when discussing this topic) You're saying that when you watch those videos of Reed with his skip/cross court passes, his lob passes, his ability to manipulate defenses with his eyes, his consistent reading of the low man, creativity, etc., you see a JJ Redick/Troy Daniels/Garrison Mathews type player? As mentioned by others, I just don't see it. He needs to work on his ball handling, strength, and ability to handle ball pressure (all things that I think should be doable), but otherwise he seems to have a near ideal PG skillset (minus size/athleticism I guess). I don't even think he's necessarily that good of a movement shooter, though he's good enough of an overall shooter to do those things (and improve at it). He seems better at these pull ups or stationary C&S type shots. I could probably go along with comps to someone like Desmond Bane or Austin Reaves (in terms of a wing scorer who is also a capable playmaker), so maybe just arguing over semantics. I suppose it doesn't really matter given what little we've seen from Reed (and most of it hasn't been good), but I do think Reed needs the ball in his hands to maximize his impact (and probably why he went #3 instead of 10-20). Kinda reminds me of Amen, who I also think needs the ball. I think people have come around on this, but I feel like a lot of people initially wanted Amen to be an off-ball only guy, whereas I thought his biggest impact could come from on-ball reps. I think when you get these guys with high feel/IQ, fast processing, good floor mapping, etc., you generally want them to have the ball. Then they can make the pass to the JJ Redick/Troy Daniels/Garrison Mathews types coming off screens. I don't think this skillset is that easy to find personally, so I wouldn't want to disregard it.
not the next Steph, but I remember watching the rookie years of JJ Reddick and how he developed. I'd take JJR anyday to my team. With Adams and Sengun as 4-5. Only then Reed might have field days.
