Bill Simmons says the quiet part out loud about Reed Sheppard’s opener

NBA analyst Bill Simmons didn't mince words when talking about Reed Sheppard's performance in the Houston Rockets' opening game of the 2025-26 season. Speaking his unfiltered thoughts, Simmons expressed his belief that the Rockets are going to need another point guard if Sheppard doesn't continue to pan out.

"I can’t wait to see Reed Sheppard on the Wizards,” joked Bill Simmons on his podcast. “He was relentlessly targeted on defense. He just got, I thought, demolished by Wallace at a couple of points in this game. He would get heat checky sometimes, and it was inappropriate because he was playing terrible, but also had a lot of confidence, which I didn’t mind. But it just, it was really rough. He’s the guy to watch on this team. I feel good about everything else that they have.”

Of course, Simmons acknowledged that there is some nuance to this situation. He explicitly stated that if there was going to be a circumstance in which Reed struggled, it would obviously be on opening night against the defending champions who boast a plethora of extremely strong defenders. So while I don't think it's time to press the panic button on him just yet, it's understandable why he would say this from an overall standpoint. 

Reed Sheppard had quite a bit of trouble defensively

The truth is that Houston is no longer a team built to win exclusively in the future. With the additions they made over the summer, it's clear that there is a pressure for the Rockets to advance in the postseason now. For that to be the case, as Simmons states, some level of urgency is going to have to be placed on the point guard position. 

Now, there is certainly a renewed level of excitement around Amen Thompson, particularly after his performance in Houston's regular season debut. But what Simmons is speaking about and what I think the correct view of this is about is concerning more of a traditional table-setting floor general type of point guard. There were significant expectations placed on Sheppard upon his entry into the league last year, and there is still the expectation that he can live up to his top-three pick billing. 

The message for Houston's second year guard is pretty unmistakable. Perfection is not a requirement, but progress is going to have to be present and measurable. The narrative of Sheppard's struggles on opening night aren't going to go away easily, and he has to take a step up.