In explaining his choice of Reed Sheppard, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo writes: “The Rockets’ ability to contend may hang more on the growth of their young players than whatever Kevin Durant gives them.”
For second-year Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard, July brought an extremely abbreviated and somewhat underwhelming stint at the NBA’s 2025 summer league. A minor calf injury may have also played a role.
But the summer-league showing doesn’t change what head coach Ime Udoka and the Rockets have planned for Sheppard in their upcoming 2025-26 season.
With that in mind, ESPN reporter Jeremy Woo is listing Sheppard at No. 1 on his list of the most interesting NBA sophomores to watch. Woo’s analysis:
One subtext of Houston dealing away Jalen Green in the Kevin Durant trade is that the Rockets cleared significant backcourt minutes for Sheppard, who currently pencils in for a real role behind Fred VanVleet and Amen Thompson. The Rockets’ ability to contend in the truest sense may hang more on the growth of their young players than whatever Durant gives them: Sheppard, Thompson, and Jabari Smith Jr. are all going to play major roles.
While he wasn’t especially noteworthy at summer league, Sheppard is worthy of optimism. He should be walking into an ideal role as a secondary handler, playmaker, and spacer who can both operate off of and make life easier for Houston’s stars. His shooting will be pivotal next to Thompson and Alperen Sengun, but he’ll also need to remain effective defensively, as the Rockets will be giving up a good deal of perimeter size when VanVleet and Sheppard share the floor. Sheppard’s instincts for winning possessions help him on that end, but he’s not exactly a deterrent for opposing shooters, either.
Sheppard has the chance to be a huge swing factor in Houston’s title chase — in theory, he’s stepping into the perfect situation. The question is whether next season is the right time and how the Rockets might have to adjust their depth accordingly. The simple fact is that we haven’t really seen him yet, and what it means for Houston’s place in the arc of this season, earns him the top spot on this list.
Drafted at No. 3 overall in the 2024 first round out of Kentucky, the Rockets have a featured role in mind for Sheppard as he enters his second professional season. The question is whether the 21-year-old is ready and if he can overcome potential challenges related to his size, physicality, and lateral quickness.
If the 21-year-old isn’t ready for rotation run, the Rockets did bring back veteran guard Aaron Holiday, who has a similar body type and can theoretically play many of those earmarked minutes. Yet, at 28 years old, Holiday’s upside is fairly limited.
For a Houston team that plans on making a championship push — after all, the Rockets were 52-30 and No. 2 in the Western Conference even before adding Durant — Sheppard’s superior upside is why he’ll get every opportunity early in the 2025-26 season to prove that he’s ready.
That context makes Sheppard a very logical candidate to be the NBA’s most intriguing second-year player, especially considering how sparingly he played as a rookie and how much variance still exists as to his long-term outcome.
