1 hour ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Exactly you just proved my point. Hey like I said he got a $27 million contract and is now playing with guys in the same boat as him that are not athletic enough to get to the rim and to be able to stay in front of their man. He will be one of if not the best in the G league. At least he is getting big bucks and does not have the pressure of guys that don't have that big contract in their back pocket and are trying to play for their livelihood. I am happy for him! I would love to see him have a great NBA career, but he cannot become more athletic, a great college player and the best he will be in the NBA is average at best.

I had rather have great court savvy and great passing skills than be able to jump over the backboard, just think he will force the Rockets to give him a chance to perform.

Just now, nikeman49 said:

I had rather have great court savvy and great passing skills than be able to jump over the backboard, just think he will force the Rockets to give him a chance to perform.

You might but I think this shows that the NBA and especially the Rockets do not think so. They gave him 35 games or 42% of the season already before they sent him down.

6 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

You might but I think this shows that the NBA and especially the Rockets do not think so. They gave him 35 games or 42% of the season already before they sent him down.

Totally agree with this, just think they will hit a bump and need him before season ends.

2 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Exactly you just proved my point. Hey like I said he got a $27 million contract and is now playing with guys in the same boat as him that are not athletic enough to get to the rim and to be able to stay in front of their man. He will be one of if not the best in the G league. At least he is getting big bucks and does not have the pressure of guys that don't have that big contract in their back pocket and are trying to play for their livelihood. I am happy for him! I would love to see him have a great NBA career, but he cannot become more athletic, a great college player and the best he will be in the NBA is average at best.

Athleticism is not an issue. Size may be an issue, but not athleticism. Sheppard has one of the top 25 vertical jumps in NBA draft history. I believe he tied for highest vertical in the 2024 draft.

Reed was making up for lost time hoisting up 33 shots.

3 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Athleticism is not an issue. Size may be an issue, but not athleticism. Sheppard has one of the top 25 vertical jumps in NBA draft history. I believe he tied for highest vertical in the 2024 draft.

Not talking about jumping but the main reasons given for him being sent down was his inability to get to the basket and being able to guard people. The one thing they thought they could count on was his shooting 1st then his passing. He is 30 games was only 38/118 from the floor and only 19/68 28% from 3 and only 35 assists to 18 turnovers. Plus their coach is a defensive coach and he really struggled guarding the big physical quick guards in the NBA.

He will be back with the Rockets before the end of this season.

6 hours ago, nikeman49 said:

Totally agree with this, just think they will hit a bump and need him before season ends.

I hope you are right. He was one my favorite Kentucky players I am just giving a realistic view of his play in the NBA.

1 hour ago, nikeman49 said:

He will be back with the Rockets before the end of this season.

You can guarantee that they are not going play a guy about 20+ million guaranteed to play the rest of the season in the G league and just as the sports shows reported it is pretty well to have a guy who was a top 3 first round pick to go to the G League to start with. 

3 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

I hope you are right. He was one my favorite Kentucky players I am just giving a realistic view of his play in the NBA.

 

6 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Not talking about jumping but the main reasons given for him being sent down was his inability to get to the basket and being able to guard people. The one thing they thought they could count on was his shooting 1st then his passing. He is 30 games was only 38/118 from the floor and only 19/68 28% from 3 and only 35 assists to 18 turnovers. Plus their coach is a defensive coach and he really struggled guarding the big physical quick guards in the NBA.

 

5 hours ago, nikeman49 said:

He will be back with the Rockets before the end of this season.

To me his career will be similar to JJ Redick. JJ his rookie year played onlu 42 games and only averaged 14 minutes a game. Then even less his second year averaging only 8 minutes a game, playing in only 34 games. JJ was even more limited defensively than Sheppard. Plus JJ was more accomplished and experienced after playing 4 years in college. Yet still took him a few years in the NBA to find his footing. It wasn’t until his 4th season when JJ started seeing 30 plus minutes a game. I see Sheppard having a similar type of career and will just take some time. 

Lots of back & forth about whether or not Reed belongs in the NBA.  We could probably have that conversation about a lot of players.  But in reality, I this as being nothing more than a move to get Reed going shooting wise & get his confidence up before bringing him back up for the end of the season & a playoff run?  Houston is currently #2 in the WC

He logged minutes in the Rockets first 24 games thru 12/8.  Since then he has only gotten minutes in 6 of their last 12.  In those 6 games, he was 3 of 20 from the field which includes a game of 1 of 7 & 0 for 8.

The only real question in all of this is:  Will he play in road games?  LOL

It's all about the fit.  Right now Houston is a tough fit for Reed.  Best thing for him would be to get traded.

32 minutes ago, ChunkT said:

It's all about the fit.  Right now Houston is a tough fit for Reed.  Best thing for him would be to get traded.

With the investment that Houston has in him, that certainly isn’t going to happen.

11 hours ago, futurecoach said:

 

 

To me his career will be similar to JJ Redick. JJ his rookie year played onlu 42 games and only averaged 14 minutes a game. Then even less his second year averaging only 8 minutes a game, playing in only 34 games. JJ was even more limited defensively than Sheppard. Plus JJ was more accomplished and experienced after playing 4 years in college. Yet still took him a few years in the NBA to find his footing. It wasn’t until his 4th season when JJ started seeing 30 plus minutes a game. I see Sheppard having a similar type of career and will just take some time. 

With all due respect, I do not see this happening for Reed, he simply can't guard his shadow. Good kid, but at the end of the day, he's going to have to greatly improve his defensive skills. My thoughts is after is rookie contract, he will spend his days overseas playing professionally.

2 hours ago, nikeman49 said:

With the investment that Houston has in him, that certainly isn’t going to happen.

I hear you, but that's not how this works. Players with a lot more investment have been traded.

And no, I'm not saying he needs to be traded. Going to the G-League is not a sign of failure as most draftees end up there at some point. It's a little out of the norm for a #3 overall pick, but again, we can't compare last year's draft to any other. In a typical year, Sheppard would have been at the tail end of the lottery. He was not drafted to be #1 or #2 guy on the Rockets' roster.