When will Reed be placed into the starting lineup?

Honestly, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. His minutes are there, we need scoring/lead ball handling off the bench.
Maybe if he continues to just go on an absolute tear, we could look at it second half or next season.

 

Maybe next year. Especially if the Rockets can't hang onto Okogie.

 

Christmas vs the Lakers

 

If it happens this year, I think it'll be after the All Star break (absent injuries). Either way, so long as he's getting a healthy amount of minutes, I don't care too much about whether he starts or comes off the bench.

 

fify

 

Do you even want him in the starting lineup vs. being a 6th man? Okogie is doing just fine as a 3&D 5th option in the starting lineup. There's a lot of mouths to feed in the starting lineup with KD, Sengun, and Amen. Plus, you presumably want to stagger Reed and KD's minutes to maintain spacing over the course of the game. If Reed's role in a lineup is mostly going to be just stand around to shoot 3s, then there are better defensive options for that between Okogie and in the future, DFS.

 

Yeah - this is my thought process as well. Being our sixth man gives him more offensive opportunities, and an eventual backup rotation of Sheppard / Eason / DFS / Adams or CC just makes a ton of sense.

 

I'm not sure if Reed is close to starting. That said, I think he plays better with players that share the ball. I'd like to see him get more minutes with Amen and Sengun. If he becomes good enough to start, I really hope the Rockets start him instead of trying to turn him into a 6MOY type of player.

 

If he is starting, then not primarily as a scorer - but as someone who makes everyone elses life easier on offense because of his spacing. With him, Jabari and KD we would have 3 really good shooters next to Sengun as the offensive hub and Amen as our cutter or the person in the dunkers spot.

I do believe DFS will take that starting spot when he is healthy, but I could see Ime trying out Reed over Okogie when the matchup is right.

 

Once Ime trusts him on defense. The shooting has been so amazing that it has more than made up for his deficiencies on defense. As Ime is a defensive coach though, Reed will probably have to come off the bench until his defense is improved or until Amen misses some games with an injury.

It's also hard to bench Okogie when he is shooting this well. His defense and energy are huge assets and it's hard to send him to the bench when he is hitting from 3. I thought he was a great value signing when we acquired him. He's exceeded expectations.

I had little hope for Reed Sheppard based on his performance last year and in the pre-season. I was wrong. Reed has improved immensely and we're seeing the impact that an elite distance shooter can have on a team. Sorry for doubting you, Reed Sheppard.

 

The minutes matter more. There also seems to be some struggle in working with Alpi. I can't point at much as evidence except for a few times when it seemed like Reed was cutting and moving off ball and ended up in the same space as Alpi who wasn't moving but calling for the ball. I'm not suggesting Reed is better, he's not, but if the chemistry is better with Reed coming off the bench and letting the offense run through Alpi at the start of the game then I don't think you mess with it.

 

His form and shot is so pretty...I have been a Rox fan for more than 50 years and have never seen a shot like that on a Rox team....EVER!

DD

 

Don't fix what ain't broken.

I like the 3 guard rotation and it staggers the ball handling.

That may change if Okogie falls off the face of the earth.

 

Okogies shot has been regressing already but he would have to be abysmal because his defense really meshes with the starters and Reed provides much needed offense off the bench. I wouldn't be shocked it he started creeping close to 30mpg though

 

Honestly, he and Tari as a spark off the bench this season is what the team needs. If DFS is as advertised once he is finished rehabbing, he is a better short term solution for this year.

 

The long-term fit between Amen, Sengun, and Reed is so good if he keeps shooting lights out and being a good connective passer. That said, knowing our head coach, I don't think he will start until Ime is 100% happy with his defense.

 

Yes and no...Yes to Reed's importance comes from his gravity. No to spark off the bench is "way less important than getting big leads early" - the reason I challenge this sentiment is Reed is starting to find his groove on the defensive end. Since he's starting to become an important piece to our offense, we need to protect him from picking up early tacky fouls. I argue having Okogie start off the game being an aggressive/assertive defensively against our opponents best player is helping us to get early leads. Then, bring in Reed with the 2nd unit to continue the momentum or use Reed to swing the momentum in our favor.
I believe it does the team more harm if Reed gets in early foul trouble and our 2nd unit is depending on Tari's scoring which lately he's been playing well, but those are the only 2 scoring punches we have coming off the bench.