Reed Sheppard's preseason masterclass sends a clear message to Rockets' Ime Udoka

As the Houston Rockets posted a 4-0 record in the preseason, the highlight of these matchups was getting to see Kevin Durant suit up with his new teammates, taking the young core onto his shoulders and clearly taking on the mantle of a veteran leader.

Yet, Reed Sheppard, in the Rockets' final preseason matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, had something to say about this, and his eye-opening, 29-point performance served as one of the highlights of the preseason for the team.

While he almost certainly won't garner this sort of volume in the regular season, given the fact that he was playing with the team's bench unit for the vast majority of his minutes, Sheppard sent a clear mesage to head coach Ime Udoka. He will need to get touches in order to climb toward his offensive ceiling this season.

Reed Sheppard's preseason performance proves what he can do with more volume

As starting point guard Fred VanVleet went down with a devastating ACL injury late in the offseason, it quickly became clear that some combination of Amen Thompson and Sheppard would need to take over his duties given the fact that the team is restricted from adding a player as a result of their current financial situation.

Yet, given the limited opportunities that Sheppard got during his rookie season, the proposition of him taking on a bigger role presents a significant risk to the reliability of the team's rotation.

Last season, through 52 games, Sheppard averaged 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists on a diet of just 12.6 minutes per night.

However, against Atlanta, Sheppard finally got his time to shine, as he posted 29 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals in 29 minutes on the court. Moreover, he took a whopping 22 shots from the field, sinking a respectable 12 of them.

In the regular season, Sheppard taking 22 shots in a game would mean that something went terribly wrong with the team's offensive scheme.

Yet, he looked confident on both ends of the floor in this preseason appearance, and, as the team needs him to take on a larger role rather quickly, it will be more vital than ever to guarantee him touches early in the season, even if there are some rocky patches along the way.

Therefore, whether it is a safe bet or not, Udoka only has one real choice this season. Sheppard needs to get the ball in his hands, even if he is coming off the bench.