The Pros and Cons of the Houston Rockets Draft by Reed Sheppard

For Houston Rockets fans, it’s draft season. Do you know what this means:

The fanbase inevitably drew lines in a bloody civil war.

Every perspective is polarizing. In this weak class, this is especially true. Whoever (if anyone) the Rockets select with the third overall pick will have flaws.

Take Reed Sheppard. If you ask some Rockets fans, drafting anyone else would be a fatal mistake. Others will say that Sheppard is not the right choice.

Let’s take a closer look.

There is a deeper discussion at hand here.

It’s the old “best player available vs fit” thing. The Rockets are in dire need of shooting, but solely targeting shooting with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft doesn’t seem palpable.

Still, it’s hard to ignore Sheppard’s 52.1 percent accuracy on 4.4 three-point attempts per game for the Kentucky Wildcats this year.

There is the filming, and then there is the special filming. It’s a special brand. Sheppard may not be strictly a floor spacer – he may one day be the best shooter in the NBA.

This will make his life easier in general. If offenses are desperately scrambling to close out his shot, Sheppard will have easier driving lanes. Imagine if Buddy Hield had any semblance of a dribbling game.

Oh, we forgot to mention that. Sheppard has some semblance of a dribbling game.

He also has some games up his sleeve. Sheppard is a crafty passer both in the half court and in transition.

Transition success is especially helpful if you can create transition opportunities. Sheppard averaged 2.5 steals per game last year. In a nutshell, there’s a simple case for Sheppard: He was special in two very valuable areas (three-point shooting and steals) last season.

What’s not to like?

Sheppard could get a lot of steals. This is not a complete measure of his defensive ability. There are reasons to worry about him on that front at the NBA level.

Some media outlets list him at 6’3″, but that seems generous. Sheppard will be a smaller guard at the NBA level. Paired with a short wingspan and limited lateral mobility, it’s likely he will be targeted on the defensive end of the ball. ground.

This could be a fatal flaw. The gap in potential outcomes for Sheppard is vast. He could be a poor man’s Steph Curry, but he could also be a rich man’s Payton Pritchard.

Should the Rockets roll the dice?

Full transparency: This is our favorite prospect who is likely to be on the board.

Let’s assume Alexandre Sarr starts and Zaccharie Risacher comes off the board second. There is no prospect left without a potentially major flaw.

Besides, Sheppard isn’t that small. It is regularly small. Some teams will be well built to exploit it. So what?

Some teams are well built to exploit Nikola Jokic. Teams still dare Giannis Antetokoumnpo to shoot. There are a very small number of flawless NBA players.

Is Sheppard likely to draw comparisons to Curry throughout his career? No, but it is very likely that he will surpass Pritchard. It’s hard to find a perfect historical comparison for Sheppard, but he might sound like something of a rich man’s Malcolm Brogdon.

For some fans, he’s a player worth fighting for.