Houston Rockets: Expectations for Reed Sheppard This Season

The season is upon us, and Reed Sheppard is going to be a rookie. The expectation he set for himself this season is just to learn.

Sep 30, 2024; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard (15) during Houston Rockets media day. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

"Don't expect anything, just come out and learn," said Reed Sheppard during Monday's media day. He is ready to play a role for Houston, but most importantly, learning is his main focus.

The situation that Sheppard is coming into with the Rockets is one of the perfect scenarios for him as a rookie. Fred VanVleet is 6-feet tall, while Sheppard is 6-foot-3. VanVleet is coming off of one his best shooting seasons of his eight-year career, shooting almost 39% from three and close to 42% from the field. The rookie's main skill is his shooting. He shot an impressive 52% from deep and 53% total. While the veteran guard is not great at defense, he still has an aggressive play-style on defense, just like Sheppard. In his only season at Kentucky, Sheppard averaged over two steals per game.

This past Summer League gave us a good glance of what to expect from the new Rocket. He averaged 20 points, almost five rebounds, five assists, and two steals on 57% true shooting. His most impressive Summer League game was against the Washington Wizards, where he posted a stat-line of 22 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. The key takeaways from his performances through these four games were his shooting inside the three point line as well as outside the three point line, his ability to read the floor on both offense and defense, and how comfortable he looked out on the court. The guard arguably looked like the most comfortable player out of all athletes in Summer League.

Given that Houston has one of the deepest teams in the league, Sheppard will not get a lot of minutes. Only being a rookie, there is a lot for him to learn, as he acknolwedged. The expectation for him is to play his minutes and shoot a solid 37-40 percent from three. It is not rare for a rookie to shoot that high, as 22 rookies have shot 40 percent and higher before. It is a lot to ask, but due to the amount of minutes he will most likely see, it is possible.

On the defensive side of the court, Sheppard should average about a steal a game. He will have to earn a lot of his minutes, just like the rest of the guys on the team. Ime Udoka wants players that show they can win. For Sheppard to really earn his minutes as a rookie, he will need to stay aggressive on defense, and of course, continue to shoot really well.

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