Reed Sheppard's summer league struggles are alarming for the Rockets

The Houston Rockets should be ringing the Reed Sheppard alarm bells. He's struggling in Summer League, so what can we expect from his 2025-26 NBA sophomore season?

That could be an overreaction to one game. Sheppard was solid in the Rockets' first outing with the Thunder. Granted, he wasn't perfect. A 6/15 clip from deep justifies a 10/25 overall performance from the field, but it's worth noting that even in his better game, Sheppard missed a lot of shots.

In his next performance, there was no silver lining. Sheppard was 1/7 from deep and 6/19 from the field. He had one assist to go with six turnovers.

Do we have a problem here?

Sheppard struggling against weak competition

Perhaps.

Sheppard is struggling against the likes of Zakai Ziggler and Miller Kopp. Those are not NBA 2K generated players. You haven't heard of them because they're not NBA-caliber guys. If Sheppard can't score on fringe NBAers, how is he going to generate offense against the best basketball players in the world?

The problems that have plagued Sheppard have persisted in Summer League. His small size makes it difficult for him to get his shots off. Sheppard's talents have been on display, but they haven't amounted to enough for him to make a consistent impact.

Rockets fans will remember Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason as sophomores in Summer League. The team pulled them early because they looked too good to be there. That hasn't been the case for Sheppard. So again, it must be asked:

How will he look in the regular season?

Rockets have high hopes for Sheppard

There's another key difference between Summer League and the regular season. It's not just Sheppard's competition that's weak: His teammates are also inferior.

As a result, defenses are keyed in on Sheppard. He's by far the focal point of the team's attack. So, it is possible that when surrounded by the likes of Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, Sheppard will thrive.

He had better.

The Rockets are banking on Sheppard. This team has a strong big man rotation, and perhaps the best collection of wings in the NBA, but their guard depth is weak. It's Sheppard, Fred VanVleet, and Aaron Holiday. Otherwise, the Rockets will fill out their guard rotation with wings.

That's fine. Leaning on positional size is a good strategy. That said, the Rockets need some ball-handling. If Sheppard can't provide it at an NBA level, the Rockets will have to seek alternative solutions.

It's time to be (slightly) alarmed.