Did you ever see the new Jumanji? This reminded me of Kevin Hart saying “my weakness…is strength? How can strength be my weakness?”
Agreed. I think his handle reflects the size and strength issues, which were my main concerns drafting him. It will simply take Reed a few offseasons to get his body to true NBA form, if he gets there ever. That may sound a bit pessimistic, but I'm still optismtic Reed will become a NBA rotation player as it will just take a bit longer. I also never really viewed him as a primary ball handler, just someone more like Derrick White or even FVV where he can initiate or keep the offense moving while hitting 3s. Hopefully Reed can get those 16 MPG and quickly learns how to navigate those Adams and Capela screens for some basic PNR actions.
Reed Sheppard will not be ready for big minutes. He is still having trouble dominating G and Summer league competition.
Reed Sheppard is in an ideal situation. Primarily because he will have Durant and Sengun who will be the primary scorers. Not even the biggest Reed fans are expecting him to become a franchise player this year. If Reed can hit his open shots he will easily average 15-18 points as a 3rd, 4th, or even 5th option. As opposing team defenses will have no choice but to respect Durant’s shooting, Reed will be able to thrive. And it’s quite obvious that his shot is calibrating quite nicely for NBA 3 point distances. Durant, Sengun, Vanvleet, Thompson, Smith, Sheppard. A lot of talented scorers there in that group.
Both Udoka and Stone have strongly endorsed Sheppard for the upcoming season to the media, putting a lot of faith in him publicly. They haven't hedged their bets at all by trying to bring in a veteran playmaker or shooter at the guard position. He must be killing it in practice. There should be very few reasons for Reed to struggle this season. He's going to get playing time and our offense should be stronger with the addition of a primary scorer in Durant. I don't even want to hear about how FVV is in his way because FVV himself had to play behind an excellent Kyle Lowry on a very competitive and deep Toronto team. There is plenty of room to excel in a reserve role.
Despite Ime refusing to play him last season, there's not any combination of 2 players from his draft class I'd trade him for. Now that doesn't say THAT much given how weak that draft class is, for example, there's not a combination of 4 players from that class that went to other teams I'd trade Amen for. Still being able to add a top draft pick in a complimentary bench role should be a big boost to the team now that he's finally going to be getting the minutes he should have been given last season.
Am I misreading that or not understanding? You would not trade Amen Thompson for Victor W, Brandon Miller, Cason Wallace, and Auser Thompson. Bold take….
The Reed haters overthink it too much. He's not going to be a #1 and doesn't need to be. But the kid will just **** out 15-20 point games because his overall offensive game is so damn sound and smooth. And if you put him around much more dangerous and physically imposing players (of which we have FOUR of in the starting lineup) it makes him incredibly dangerous.
He's closer to Price than he is Maloney. He's a cut above guys like JJ Redick, TJ McConnell, etc. He has to work at it still but his talent level is still easily the best in his draft class.
It's also true that a lot of the reason why he's still likely to be the best in his draft class is because his draft class sucks, but still. Sheppard should be a plus backup PG this season and we'll see where it goes from there. Most of this draft class shouldn't see a second contract.
I hope Steph Castle does. Risacher will as well I think he's basically smaller more useful Jabari Smith Jr. Wells from Memphis. Uhh...maybe Bub Carrington.
Oh I'd love it if the Spurs gave Castle a big contract because he's terrible. There's a lot of talk about Buzelis, plus Clingan and Edey are probably solid backup centers long term. I just don't see top end potential in many that would surpass Sheppard's potential.
How is he a cut above JJ and TJ? Like where does that come from? His college career is nothing on JJ's and his first season numbers compared to JJ's aren't in Reed's favour either, similar situation too just JJ was a significantly better player/shooter, and JJ's first season was considered a disappointment. McConnell I can almost see it, but Reed was still a worse shooter in his first season and didn't have that much better a college career either...Just seems entirely based on personal bias more than anything tangible.
It's based on skillset, not on raw numbers that show opportunity more than ability. The same people who thought Jalen Green was good due to his raw chucking numbers are the same types of people who will think Reed Sheppard is bad due to his lack of opportunity last season. That's why we'll just have to wait a bit for those types to come around. Most Jalen fans eventually realized how foolish they were being, given enough time, I expect most will figure out just how good Sheppard is likely to be.
Only four? If before the draft we could have gotten every single pick in last years draft for Amen I woulda said no,
Shepp still exists in theory like Green did for a while. He has much to prove but his game is much more sound than Jalen's was.
Right, it's like the difference between investing in a fundamentally sound brand new company that hasn't yet turned a profit vs buying lottery tickets. Both can end up not being worth it, but one is MUCH more likely than the other to be a good investment.
There's only you still crying about Green tbh. JJ had a very similar level of opportunity his first season as Reed did, though Reed started AND played more games so that's technically bullshit too just so you know. These are their numbers, you can spin it how you want, but if you're saying there's any indicator that Reed is better right now you're full of **** tbh, and that's straight up. We'll just stick to their NBA careers, it'd just be embarrassing for Reed if we compared their college careers tbh, like bloodbath embarrassing. Reed Sheppard year 1 GP 51 GS 3 MPG 12.5 FG% .357 3P%.343 FT%.813 RPG 1.5 APG 1.3 SPG .7 BPG .3 PPG 4.5 JJ Redick Year 1 GP 42 GS 0 MPG 14.8 FG% .410 3p% .388 FT% .900 RPG 1.2 APG .9 SPG .3 BPG 0 PPG 6.0 Now, Reed's the better defender for sure, but considering we're talking the sharpshooter archetype who is the "cut above" shooter here? I'll give you a clue, he's the one who left college with so many accolades you have to scroll down on Wikipedia not the one who came off the bench. I do think Reed should become a better player overall, especially if he learns to play point because he'll be able to do more things on the court and contribute in more ways. But claiming that Reed's a cut above JJ at this point in their careers is straight up bullshit when you really look at it. JJ's easy "a cut above" by year 1.
