After pulling off a blockbuster trade to acquire Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets had vaulted themselves into potential contender status. Those hopes and notions took a major hit this week with the announcement that starting point guard Fred VanVleet suffered an ACL injury, in all likelihood ending his season prematurely. What is a positive for the Rockets is that VanVleet’s absence opens the door for a potential breakout season from players on the roster.
While VanVleet’s injury certainly puts a huge damper on the Rockets’ season, depending on what player steps up to pick up the slack and breakout, the team could still find themselves in the mix when it comes to competing in a tough Western Conference.
Durant, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson have starting spots locked down. Dorian Finney-Smith and Jabari Smith Jr. will likely compete for the starting small forward spot. That leaves the point guard spot open in the wake of VanVleet’s injury. And the Rockets have a player in second-year guard Reed Sheppard who is a prime candidate to fill the void and have a breakout season.
Reed Sheppard will have breakout season for Rockets
There’s no guarantee that Sheppard is automatically going to be handed the keys to the starting point guard job. It’s something he’s going to have to earn in training camp and preseason. But looking at the Rockets’ roster, he’s the obvious candidate to start at the one.
The No. 3 overall pick by the Rockets in the 2024 NBA Draft, Sheppard enjoyed a solid freshman season at Kentucky before opting to declare for the draft. While he was a lottery pick, the Rockets were in the midst of becoming a legitimate playoff team in the West and minutes were scarce for the rookie guard.
Sheppard was assigned briefly to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets G League affiliate, where he looked too good for the G League. He appeared in three games with the Valley Vipers at a little over 35 minutes per game. He averaged 30.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.7 steals with splits of 47 percent shooting from the field, 40.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line. That stint included a 49-point outburst in his debut.
With the Rockets, Sheppard appeared in a total of 52 games, including three starts, at a little over 12 minutes per game. He averaged 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists with splits of 35.1 percent shooting from the field, 33.8 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Sheppard has the ability to play both guard positions, and he’s always been a good playmaker. In his lone season at Kentucky, he dished out 4.5 assists per game. In the three games he played in the G League, he was close to averaging eight assists.
The Rockets are going to have scoring on the court with Durant, Sengun and Thompson also presumably taking a big leap. What they’ll need is someone who can keep the ball moving and be a playmaker. Sheppard can certainly do that. They won’t even need him to be a dominant ball-handler as he’ll play alongside Durant and Thompson.
Again, nothing is going to be handed to Sheppard. He’ll have to prove in camp why he is worthy of getting the nod at point guard. With Thompson having playmaking and ball-handling abilities himself, the Rockets might opt to go big and Thompson would be on breakout player watch. But if Sheppard can come to camp ready to compete, he is a good bet to have a breakout season for the Rockets.
