The Houston Rockets have had a very good season, but that has meant that Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NBA draft has been the odd man out. Sheppard hasn't been able to crack a deep rotation and then the rookie suffered fractured the thumb on his shooting hand a few days after playing the best game of his career.
Considering the Rockets are a 50-plus win team who will finish third in the Western Conference at worst, Sheppard's disappointing rookie season hasn't been that big a deal for Houston, though it has to be for Sheppard.
In an alternate universe he might be in the running for Rookie of the Year, which is a thought floated by ESPN's Tim Bontemps on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast.
"...if he[Reed Sheppard] for a team where he's playing 25 minutes a game, my prediction would be, he'd be running away with this award..."
— Chris Gorman (@GormanChristoph) April 7, 2025
- Tim Bontemps[@TimBontemps] on Rookie of the year race
🔥🔥🔥
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Agree?#Rockets #LiftOff pic.twitter.com/DX1p26pchk
“Reed Sheppard has basically not played this season," said Bontemps. "He played against the Thunder a couple weeks ago. He had a huge game against one of the best teams in the league. Right? If he’s playing for a team where he’s playing 25-30 minutes a game. My prediction would be he would be running away with this award.”
Sheppard did indeed score 25 points in 31 minutes during a Rockets loss to the Thunder. It was the first start of Sheppard's career. He played 25 minutes total over the next two games and scored six points. Then he missed three weeks with a thumb injury.
Sheppard has appeared in 49 games for the Rockets this season averaging four points, one rebound and one assist in 11.4 minutes a game. We'll never know how good he could be in a completely different situation, but in this one it hasn't worked out how anyone hoped for him, at least individually.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps Offers Bold Take on Reed Sheppard’s Disappointing Rookie Year.
