Rockets Praised for Reed Sheppard Selection

Reed Sheppard is the main addition for the Houston Rockets this season.

Jeremy Brener | Sep 17, 2024

Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Reed Sheppard arrives for the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In this story:

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets didn't make many changes to their roster this season, but they did take Reed Sheppard with the No. 3 overall pick out of Kentucky.

It was the biggest move of the offseason, which earned praise from Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes.

"Sheppard is a hand-in-glove fit for a team that clearly signed Fred VanVleet to be a premium stopgap until its younger pieces were ready to take over control of the offense. Amen Thompson and Jalen Green are both promising enough that Houston could have targeted someone else, but it only took a few minutes of summer-league action for Sheppard to solidify himself as the best prospect (so far) in his class," Hughes writes. "There's a long, long way to go before Sheppard justifies the hype in the paragraph above. But the early signs suggest the Rockets nailed this pick."

Sheppard won't have an easy time earning minutes on a team with strong players all across the board. However, Sheppard may be good enough to play right away as a rookie.

His threat as a distance shooter already makes him worthy of playing time, but if he can get his defense on the level to where it needs to be, he may emerge as the best 3-and-D prospect for the Rockets moving forward.

Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Published Sep 17, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.