Houston Rockets Rookie report: Reed Sheppard's impact so far

The Houston Rockets have a roster crunch.

It comes from a surplus of young talent. It's a rich person's problem. It's still a problem. Rich people have problems too. Where will they find time to fuel the private jet?

The Rockets landed the third pick in the 2024 NBA Draft via the Nets. This was a true blessing. The Rockets already had an excess of lottery-level talent. Now, they'd be adding another potential star.

Ultimately, they landed on Reed Sheppard. It was a sensible decision. Sheppard was one of the best shooters in college basketball history.

That doesn't guarantee him a spot in the Rockets' 2024-25 rotation.

Rockets' Reed Sheppard hardly sees the floor

Let's check in with Sheppard.

He's averaging 3.4 points and 1.7 assists per game. Sheppard is shooting 43.3% from the field and 35.7% from long-range. Still, one stat tells us more about his season than any other:

Sheppard is averaging 11.4 minutes per game.

To properly analyze his numbers, we need to extrapolate. Per 100 possessions, Sheppard is averaging 14.8 points, 7.2 assists, and 3.3 turnovers per game.

That's helpful to a degree. Still, extrapolating numbers from 11.4 minutes per game only has limited value. Sheppard's per 1oo stats don't sufficiently tell us how he'd perform in a larger role. We don't have enough data to draw those conclusions.

What does the eye tell us?

Sheppard needs to be aggressive for Rockets

There's some good, and some bad.

Sheppard's assist-to-turnover ratio bodes well for his future. He's more than just a shooting specialist. Sheppard has demonstrated a keen passing eye and can make a wide range of reads.

There's another per 100 stat that's worth keeping an eye on. Sheppard is shooting 6.7 threes per 100 possessions. For context, Jalen Green is attempting 13.9 threes per 100 possessions.

Sheppard doesn't need to meet Green's three-point volume, but he should be approaching it. If he's going to be a primary ball-handler in the NBA, he'll need to command considerable gravity from beyond the arch. Teams need to scramble to guard his three-ball.

If you've been watching the Rockets, you've seen that Sheppard can be tentative. There have been moments where he had daylight to shoot, and he got shy.

That's fine. Sheppard is a rookie. He's expected to have holes in his game. He also deserves credit for his intelligent brand of basketball. Sheppard seldom makes mistakes, but that's partly because he's so risk-averse.

All told, Sheppard has been fine. If he continues playing this way, his minutes may increase incrementally throughout the year. If he wants a major promotion, he'll need to be less fearful when letting it fly from beyond the arch. Even then, it could be tough for Ime Udoka to expand his role.

That's the burden of having so many good young players.