After an impressive run, the Houston Rockets are out of the NBA Cup. The young team undoubtedly benefited from the experience of semi-meaningful basketball. Now, they can go back to giving one of their young players the experience of any basketball at all. Houston’s next steps will be centered around figuring out their perimeter scoring problem. Rookie Reed Sheppard could help with this perimeter scoring issue; however, his play has been very shaky so far, leaving his role with the team unclear.
Next Steps for Rockets Rookie Reed Sheppard After NBA Cup Run
The Houston Rockets lost their NBA Cup semifinal clash with the number one seed Oklahoma City Thunder in predictable fashion. The team’s offensive focal point, Alperen Sengun, was the focus of too much defensive attention and was facilitated by too little offensive support. Houston’s lack of perimeter scoring remains a brick ceiling for the team’s aspirations.
Whether it will be necessary to trade for more perimeter scoring is a decision that Houston will almost certainly defer to the offseason. Chemistry and buy-in are major contributors to their unexpected success in 2024. As they look to carry that success into 2025, continuity, for the most part, will be key.
Still, there are steps the Rockets can take without too badly upsetting the apple cart they rode to the NBA Cup semifinals. The team needs more reliable perimeter creation. The team also has prospects, the realized versions of whom could potentially help meet that need.
Houston Hopes Sheppard Can Reach The Next Step
Reed Sheppard has had a bumpy start to his NBA career. Or perhaps the crest of a bump implies higher highs than there have been. The most he’s scored in a game so far has been just 12 points, tallied in a November blow-out against the Chicago Bulls. In Houston’s NBA Cup elimination games against the Thunder and the Golden State Warriors, he received DNPs.
It’s not entirely Sheppard’s fault there haven’t been higher highs. You can only climb so far in 11.8 minutes per game. It’s hard to blame head coach Ime Udoka for cutting Sheppard’s minutes short, though. Sheppard looks somewhat lost every time he leaves the safety of the bench. Thankfully, Sheppard is still in the foothills of the mountain of his NBA career. Udoka needs to let him get lost a few times before he learns to find his way for himself.
To Udoka’s credit, he has tried to do just that. Udoka has been slowly deviating from his Fred VanVleet pick-and-roll offense. He even went so far as to deploy Sheppard in the way that should be most complimentary to his skill set – handoffs with Sengun. Sure enough, the actions generate clean looks for him. A potential ceiling-buster could still possibly be at hand. Unfortunately, so far, Sheppard has been lodging more bricks in it.
Sheppard’s Stumbling Blocks
Clearly, there’s no basis for any conclusion about Sheppard’s long-term viability as an NBA-level shooter. Adjustment period, low confidence, and small sample size all play a role in his 30.4% from three; he’s only taken 56 threes in total. Sheppard should absolutely still wind up being a marksman. His other problem, though, is that he’s been a marked man.
Per 100 possessions, Sheppard gives up the most opponent points in the paint on the team behind only eight games’ worth of Cam Whitmore. People go at him. It’s not only that he’s smaller than most of the other Rockets, the bigger issue is the ball-watching. This trait manifests itself most problematically in all the back-cuts he allows. His basketball IQ is such that he should be able to cut back on the tendency with more experience.
Udoka made the logical decision, keeping Sheppard’s development side-lined while the team duked it out in Nevada. He’ll presumably make the logical decision again and reinstate Sheppard’s backup role now that the stakes are lower.
The alternative would be a stint in the G League to get his confidence back up. Aaron Holiday, or even the fellow G League sight-seer Whitmore, could fill the bench shooter role until his return. Houston has the rest of the season to work on their shooting issues internally. If they’re going to be successful, chances are Sheppard will be involved.
The Last Word
The Rockets have plenty to be happy about this season, even if Sheppard does take longer than expected to find his NBA footing. The NBA Cup evaded their grasp, but the future still looks up for grabs. The next step for Houston is to figure out how to grab it from further than five out.
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