Is Reed Sheppard too undersized/unathletic to succeed in the NBA?

[yellowknifer]

Sarr shot 24% from 3p first two months, then in December had 7 games where he shot 50 percent and finished the month posting a 45 3pt%. The splits are improving for another kid some think might be a the "b" word.

You can't make shots that you don't take, and you can't get better not being aggressive as a young player. Houston is really deep and teams are going into OKC model on defense where they have speed and lateral quickness all over the court to deal with the 5 out. Being able to jump high is great, but at the end of the day you either shoot over the defender or go around them. Curry has elite first step quickness to get to the rim. I haven't seen that first step on Reed yet. That's the key for any PG in the NBA. You can't just be a shooter as PG. If you play Curry too tight he will absolutely burn you off ball change of direction or cutting to the basket because of his quickness. Curry get labeled as just a shooter, but he's far more versatile than he gets credit than the average fan. It's too soon to say Reed's not going to make an impact, but he needs way more playing time for a pick at that level. Problem is Houston is in win now mode. They aren't try to bring along a rookie.

Fred Van Vleet has entered the chat.

[Deathray]

Maybe he'll figure it out eventually but he showed last year at UK that he still had a long way to go to become a real point guard and he's not getting minutes with the Rockets because Holiday is light years better than him running the team. Once FVV gets back it would be better to send him back down to the G league to get more experience rather than just giving him a little time here and there with the Rockets. Whether he is actually an NBA player is still yet to be determined but so far he hasn't looked like one.

[Dan Z]

I still believe in his potential. It's his first year and he's only 20 years old.

I remember many people writing Scoot off last year and this year he's started to show signs of life.

What were most of you doing at 20 years old? I bet you were still figuring things out. It's not easy to go from one year of college to the NBA and maybe it'll take Reed some time.

[FarBeyondDriven]

The 2024 draft class is going to expose a lot of blowhards who think they know how to evaluate prospects and judge draft classes. Reed is just one of many such examples we can look back on in a few years as proof.

[Diop]

I thought he would be dangerous from 3 and that would give him minutes. But that just hasn’t happened. Surely he will get his confidence back

[DaddyCool19]

Isn't him landing on a team who is doing way to well also a part of his problem? They don't have the luxury to give him 20-25 MPG so he can acclimate faster to the NBA and the pace in the league. And isn't the PG position the hardest position to master? Especially if you are not a real point guard

[Godymas]

Isn't him landing on a team who is doing way to well also a part of his problem? They don't have the luxury to give him 20-25 MPG so he can acclimate faster to the NBA and the pace in the league. And isn't the PG position the hardest position to master? Especially if you are not a real point guard

if only there wasn't a similarly sized UK guard taken in the top 10 in a very similar situation to compare Sheppard to

[Jcool0]

Isn't him landing on a team who is doing way to well also a part of his problem? They don't have the luxury to give him 20-25 MPG so he can acclimate faster to the NBA and the pace in the league. And isn't the PG position the hardest position to master? Especially if you are not a real point guard

if only there wasn't a similarly sized UK guard taken in the top 10 in a very similar situation to compare Sheppard to

The one who in 8 February games playing almost 18 MPG is shooting 35% and 10% from 3?

[Harry Palmer]

1) super deep roster
2) nobody plays for Ime until they can defend at a certain level. Reed can be a very disruptive defender…amazing eye hand coordination…but is not yet a reliable defender. Teams are hunting hm when he’s on, in part because most of his teammates on the floor are + defenders.
3) everything else right now is a confidence issue imo. Shooters don’t just forget how to shoot, but when you’re only getting very limited minutes and you’re exerting a lot more effort on D than you have previously, your legs and confidence can get shaken and the latter gets worse while you sit the bench most of the time.

He’s exactly what they need moving forward. I’m not guaranteeing anything and obviously it’d be better if he was killing it in limited minutes, but I’m not too worried about him at the moment.

Also someone said he struggled in G-league?!?

[Godymas]

Isn't him landing on a team who is doing way to well also a part of his problem? They don't have the luxury to give him 20-25 MPG so he can acclimate faster to the NBA and the pace in the league. And isn't the PG position the hardest position to master? Especially if you are not a real point guard

if only there wasn't a similarly sized UK guard taken in the top 10 in a very similar situation to compare Sheppard to

The one who in 8 February games playing almost 18 MPG is shooting 35% and 10% from 3?

the one that you can see is better when you watch the game and not quote stats

[nate33]

What's funny is that he tested out as one of the fastest and most explosive athletes at the combine, and his height itself is solid. The *issue* i think is a hidden one: a very low standing reach at 7'9.5." For reference, Chris Paul's standing reach is 7'9," Dame's is 7'11." Kyrie Irving's is 8'3," i think Westbrook's is 8'4." So westbrook functionally has 7 inches in size over Reed. That's just small.

Sheppard is almost an inch taller than Dillingham and has a quarter inch greater wingspan, but somehow has a standing reach 1.5 inches shorter. Sheppard obviously tanked the standing reach measurement (by slouching and not extending) in order to boost the result of his vertical leap.

His actual height is 6'-1.75" and his wingspan is 6'-3.25". That gives him about the same size as Payton Pritchard (6'-0.5, 6'-4"), Jared McCain (6'-2", 6'-3.5"), Jalen Brunson (6'-1", 6'-4"), Jared Butler (6'-2.25" 6'-4") and Davion Mitchell (6'-0", 6'4.25")

It's a pretty good bet that Sheppard's true standing reach is about 7'11.5". Which would mean his true max vertical leap is 40" and his true standing vertical leap is 30.5". That 40" max vertical is still impressive, but the 30.5" standing is rather mundane for an NBA guard (though not "unathletic").

I think Sheppard will need to get into the gym and become much stronger in the lower body. It looks like he has the frame to do it, but it might take a couple of years. With enough strength, some of those short, stout PG's actually pan out to be very good defenders (Kyle Lowry, VanVleet, TJ McConnell, Chris Paul) or at least serviceable defenders (Payton Pritchard, Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler).

[Jcool0]

if only there wasn't a similarly sized UK guard taken in the top 10 in a very similar situation to compare Sheppard to

The one who in 8 February games playing almost 18 MPG is shooting 35% and 10% from 3?

the one that you can see is better when you watch the game and not quote stats

uh huh whatever you say.

[MrBigShot]

I'm still a believer in him. He just needs a real opportunity.

[Godymas]

The one who in 8 February games playing almost 18 MPG is shooting 35% and 10% from 3?

the one that you can see is better when you watch the game and not quote stats

uh huh whatever you say.

go watch some games

[pr0wler]

Small sample size. He's taken less than 100 3-pointers the entire season. It normally takes like 500-750+ 3's to get a more accurate picture of someones true shooting ability.

His 99 3PA sample in the NBA is too small, yet he was crowned the second coming of Steph Curry with just 144 3PA in College with a different range and defense... but since he's shooting bad, now it takes 500+ to get an accurate read, right?

For the record, I think he's going to be alright shooting, but he was never close to what he was billed as. Super overhyped.

I was also one of the few doubters of his supposed Steph Curry shooting ability before he set foot on the NBA floor. He had a relatively small sample size in college, though his numbers were pretty absurd to be fair. We just need more time to evaluate how good his shooting ability is or isn't.

[Godymas]

Think it’s more relevant than ever today. It’s REALLY concerning how lost he is year 2. At least he can shoot.

[brackdan70]

He can probably stick in the league as I think he has some skills. So yes can succeed. He won’t be a solid starter or anything long term though.

[Chokic]

Reed sheppard has got to be the shortest looking 6'3 in shoes player. Dude looks 5'11 out there on the court. That being said hes very skilled. As long as ime udoka is his head coach hes not going to pan out how ppl thought he should. Often overlooked aspect a players development is contingent upon how the coach sees you favorably or not.

[Godymas]

He can probably stick in the league as I think he has some skills. So yes can succeed. He won’t be a solid starter or anything long term though.

even with his shooting ability, the defense is such a massive hole that he becomes unplayable. Like the only scenario a winning team plays Reed Sheppard is because they have a transcendent defensive player that can cover, (he won't be starting ofc, nor the lead bench player) or he's like the 13th guy off the bench squeezing in minutes in the regular season just to cover out of depth

[UcanUwill]

Surprising to hear a guy with a 42 inch vertical being called “unathletic”. But then again, sadly, it’s not that surprising and we all know the ugly reason why.

He short armed his standing reach(7’9.5”) to game his max vert. Steph Curry had 8’1” standing reach for comparison.

Lot of guys with weirdly high verts been doing this for years, not sure how it’s not being caught on to

Max vert does not mean much, its how athletic you are in a game. Plumlee Brothers had way better max vert than Blake Griffin, some people can jump really high when they concentrate on it and that one explosive jump is all they do in those couple minutes, it is different to be athletic for several minutes in a row in countless plays per minute. Thiis is like that Mirotic12 troll who claims Spanoulis had 42 inch vertical actually, when everyone with eyes can see the guy played like he could barely touch the net... Reed can't guard anybody and looks unathletic, thats just facts, it is not because he is white.