The Houston Rockets selected guard Reed Sheppard with the third overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. The 20-year-old proved to be quite the sharpshooter in his one season playing collegiately for Kentucky. Houston bet on his overall progress to continue by selecting him with such a high lottery pick.
While it’s just Summer League, Sheppard has brought much excitement to the Rockets fanbase through his first three games. He even has received the attention of former NBA stars. A former multi-time All-Star point guard praised the young Rockets dynamo by comparing him to himself.
Former Four-Time All-Star Compares Reed Sheppard To Himself
Price Had A Stellar NBA Career
If Mark Price was before your time, you may not be aware of how good a player he was in the late 1980s and through much of the 1990s. The six-foot guard played 12 seasons in the league from 1986-87 until 1997-98. Much of his work was done with the Cleveland Cavaliers where he played his first nine years in the league.
Apparently, the 60-year-old Price is still keeping tabs on what is going on in the NBA. After watching highlights of Sheppard in summer league action, he tweeted his thoughts about the six-foot-two guard.
I just watched some highlights of @reed_sheppard at @NBASummerLeague ! He sure reminds me of a former NBA all star
This young man has a bright future!
— Mark Price (@Mark25Price) July 15, 2024
While Price didn’t flat out say Sheppard reminds him of himself, one can infer that is what he meant. That isn’t faint praise at all for Sheppard either. While with Cleveland, Price made four All-Star teams, was named to four All-NBA teams, and finished top-ten in MVP voting four times.
Much like what Sheppard has shown thus far in his playing career, Price was a knockdown shooter. In today’s game, he would probably be even more valuable with the immense volume of three-point shots that are attempted. For his career, Price connected on 40.2% of his three-point tries and 90.4% of his free throw attempts. He led the league in free throw percentage in three different seasons.
Price wasn’t just a shooter and scorer though, as he put up some excellent assist totals. During his Cavaliers tenure, he averaged 7.2 assists per contest. In 1992, Price helped guide Cleveland to the Eastern Conference Finals where they fell to the Chicago Bulls.
Reed Sheppard Showing Out In Summer League For Rockets
The Rockets are 2-1 in their first three Summer League games. While Monday’s game against the Detroit Pistons wasn’t Sheppard’s best showing (6-17 from the field, 0-2 from beyond the arc), his first two outings got a lot of fans talking. In the summer league opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, Sheppard finished with 23 points, five assists, four rebounds, and three blocks. He scored efficiently finishing 9-17 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range. In Houston’s second game against the Washington Wizards, Sheppard scored 22 points while also adding six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals.
Sheppard shot the ball lights out in his one year at Kentucky. He finished with an incredible 52.1% three-point shooting on more than four attempts per outing. Sheppard also dished out 4.5 assists per game. If he can have a career resembling anything close to what Mark Price did, Houston fans will certainly be satisfied.
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