What are you guys complaining about? Sheppard is safely going to give you decent defense, 20 points with great 3pt shooting and 6-8 assists for sure (like a more scoring-minded FVV). That minimum is worth $25m+ per season. On the higher side he could end up being a 25 points and 10 assists plus all time steals guy (Steven Nash with more 3PT shooting). That's a good return for a top 5 pick. He's been on the 2nd best team in the West for 20 games and hasn't hit the ground running. Big deal. Just need to develop this guy slowly, he's going to be a very important key to the puzzle soon.
I agree with almost everything here - similarly, I thought he wouldn’t turn into Steph overnight like some of you guys were predicting. I preferred Castle but I understand the Reed pick was a safer pick for a team that wants to compete sooner rather than later and is trying to limit long term upside risks. I do think Reed will be able to be a solid rotational player long term as a floor - THAT is why we took him 3rd because he had a floor that would be useful to Houston in the short term and everything else would just be bonus….but it’s A LOT to ask a kid who has never played the point to be our future PG just because he can shoot. He still needs to become a better ball handler, make 2nd and 3rd level reads, learn how to set the offense like Fred, become a more consistent shooter, in addition to learning how to utilize the threat of his shooting to create gravity on the court for himself and his teammates. In the short term he is a role player/specialist in training and if he continues to progress he could be our future PG long term but there is no chance of him being our starting PG with both Amen and Fred on the roster any time soon.
What is good is he’s been able to earn minutes even though his shot has been off. He’s still providing a positive impact when he’s on the floor. Nobody has said he’s a bust. But more than not, players will have growing pains adjusting to NBA basketball, regardless of potential. Anyone can see that Reed looks small, thus he needs to add some weight and strength. If he can add wiry strength, that would be most ideal. My point was that Reed learn that he’s got earn his playing time beyond relying on his shooting ability.
I'm completely perplexed at the knee-jerk judgments of this guy. He gets very few minutes because we were already stacked when we picked him. He's playing behind a solid, healthy veteran PG who's trusted by the coach to run the offense on long minutes. When Van Vleet goes out, Udoka has several other guys who need minutes and get priority over the rookie. Sheppard makes good decisions, makes fewer mental mistakes than any rookie I can remember, and plays defense well above the expected level of somebody his size. The only reason he's not lighting up the box score is his lack of playing time, plus his emphasis on creating opportunities for others. If he were shooting at Jalen Green's volume, he'd be racking up points and you'd all be growing staches in his honor.
Nothing good about it. If they had a professional basketball league for women, he looks like he'd be in it!
I think that Sheppard has a chance to be a good NBA player, but I think you're jumping the gun here a bit. Let's see him actually have at least one breakout game before slapping 20/8 on him, much less 25/10.
Sorry but Reed will be our PG when FVV is gone. Amen may play there some too when Reed is on the bench but Reed will be the main PG. Reed will end up being the steal of this draft before it is all said and done.
In the tanking era, if given a starting job + minutes, and told to jog leisurely and jack-up 3PAs, this kid would have averaged 25 pts, 42% and 4.5 makes on threes, and some on CF would be talking how that compares to Curry. Never mind that most of his points would have come when we are down 20 and the opposing players are contemplating at which gentleman club to kick-off the night, rather than how to stop the pre-pubescent kid from scoring meaningless baskets.... We've seen that movie with Green and KPJ... In this serious hoops era, my expectations was for him to beat out Holiday for minutes, and he seems to be doing it. So, I'm good. And, yeah, if we werent 15-6 I would most likely be on his azz and calling him a monumental bust, but that's how it goes...
There's no real difference between jumping the gun and making a prediction, that's kind of the whole point.
I don't know whether this is tongue in cheek, but I think Reed Sheppard will be fine. He needs to get stronger and build his confidence over a couple of off seasons. If the Rockets were bad, he would get a lot more run, but Ime isn't going to over expose Sheppard this year - or next.
