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

[Gordon]

When i first saw him, he reminded me of Jimmer Fredette. If he is to have succes in the NBA, he needs to model himself in JJ Redick like player. Redick also struggled his first few years, but through hard work improved enough defensively to take advantage of his outside shooting.

[UcanUwill]

he might have the shortest arms in the nba...seriously how can you draft such small players that high in a draft...and small guys like lowry and vanvleet succeeded because they played like a dog on defense and this kid has zero dog in him

NUmber one pick in that draft averaged single digits in youth tournament a year before draft... It was a crap shoot and Reed at least looked like generational shooter.

[Moahst]

I think he will have a long career and be a starter for a team for multiple seasons but I don't think he's the answer to any of the Rockets problems anytime soon. He gets targeted as a mismatch whenever he's on the floor and he's not big or strong enough to hold his ground.

[HomoSapien]

Right now he can't move with purpose. The defense dictates everything for him - where he dribbles to, who he passes to. It's early still, but he really doesn't look like an NBA player right now.

[threethehardway]

I don't know what people saw in this guy.

He's tiny, not a great ball handler, not a great playmaker, and not super athletic.

Even if you can shoot the lights out of the ball and look cute every now and then, that's not enough to be on an NBA roster.

Small guards, like Kyrie, Donovan Mitchell, Trae, Ja Morant, would be MVPs if they were 6'6 220.

Reed Sheppard would still be a borderline NBA player, that's how bad he is. The Rockets needed shooting at the guard position and didn't even play him just so he can stand int he corner his rookie year.

For any small prospect, there should be the 6'6 test, if you can imagine them at 6'6 and they would be possible all-stars to MVPs, they have an NBA starter skillset.

[Johnny Firpo]

If Payton Pritchard can do it, so could he, it's about how strong he is mentally. He has the talent and skills to carve out a role at least.

[Special_Puppy]

he might have the shortest arms in the nba...seriously how can you draft such small players that high in a draft...and small guys like lowry and vanvleet succeeded because they played like a dog on defense and this kid has zero dog in him

Everyone else was more flawed. Guy who lead all freshmen in BPM with a solid 2 PT% and a great Assist to Turnover Ratio, steal rate, FT%, 3PT% wasn't a bad bet.

College and the NBA are completely different games. Especially considering how bad freshman overall. Sure all the lottery picks are freshman in college, but that's literally 20-30 out of the thousands of freshman in college basketball. Most of the teams that go on deep runs in MM are relying on redshirted seniors who are physically bigger and more well rounded to do the heavy lifting. It's why it's so rare for one and dones to go on insane runs in the tournament unless you have a transcendent guy like a AD or Carmelo Anthony. Like even the most stacked Duke team in 2019 with Zion, Cam Reddish, RJ Barrett, Tre Jones, etc. lost in the Elite 8.

So when a guy is leading all freshmen in a few nice stats, it's not NEARLY as impressive as you make it sound. If he's an NBA prospect he's already one of like 20 or so Freshman, the rest of the competition is future tech sales bros and athletic training staff.

Its not a one to one correlation, but you'd clearly want your prospect to be better in college all else being equal especially if they're a guard. Reed had a great freshman season in a very flawed draft class so its not strange at all that he went top 3 overall. Like who was less flawed than him and why?

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[Rustyman]

Didn't like any guards including Stephon Castle in that draft and while I knew the Spurs were going to draft one or more, I basically viewed them all as having major holes in their games.

Sheppard - size and athleticism. You can survive with being subpar in these categories in the NBA but you have to be elite in everything else. Reed is not.

Dillingham - size and not a PG. Still has the same issues. Being a small SG in this league is difficult unless you can shoot like Curry.

Castle - poor efficiency and shot. Has followed him into the NBA but everything else looks good. Will have to improve his weaknesses to be a star.

Topic - injured and still injured. Seems to have size and vision but we haven't seen it in the NBA.

[Old_Blue]

Reed Sheppard was an analytics darling. He is quite literally the poster child for flawed analytics.

Reed Sheppard and the flawed concept of "stat scouting"

https://www.loganadamsnba.com/p/reed-sheppard-and-the-flawed-concept

[Handlez]

Reed can ball.

Period.

Wtf.

[JRoy]

Reed can ball.

Period.

Wtf.

Future Chinese league all star.

[raleigh]

I did find it interesting that his relatively low OReb% at Kentucky often went ignored. That stat isn't a perfect proxy for functional athleticism in a small guard but it at least deserved attention.

[Mephariel]

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.

I agree. If there is anything unathletic about him, it is not max vertical. That is the least of my concerns. It is lateral quickness, explosive driving ability, and agility. I don't know what Steve Nash's vertical is, but he seemed way more swift and shifty than Sheppard for example.

[Anderson Hunt]

He's not a PG. He's a SG. If you play him at SG with a tall, oversized PG, he's good enough to be a tertiary scorer on a championship team.

His biggest issue will be constantly having to be paired with two tall primary ballhandlers (a tall starting PG and a tall backup PG).

If Amen Thompson can eventually develop into a starting-caliber PG, Sheppard will be just fine.

On a championship team huh? What has he shown thus far in the NBA to say he can be that on the pro level? Not even Tyler Herro or Cam Thomas have shown that and they are way better than he is.

I don't need to see it to project it. I believe in his abilities. I also strongly believe that talented players prosper when they are placed in their proper roles. You and I are different. I have an eye for the present and the future. Apparently, you are only limited to what is in the moment right now.

With all due respect, an ant will have a very hard time understanding an eagle's perspective.

[Chuck Everett]

Never mind.

[Bologna Smasher]

I think Reed will be fine as long as he keeps working hard. You don't necessarily need to be super athletic or long to be an acceptable or good defender. Look at guys with similar measurements and athletic profiles like Stockton, McConnell, Hinrich, etc. He has really good hands and is very good at reading angles and creating deflections, so he has the tools to at least be on a similar level to a McConnell or Hinrich.

I never saw him as a Stephen Curry type of player, so I don't think he will ever be that type of player, but I think he can definitely be a starting point guard and potential all-star as long as keeps working hard and improves his confidence on an NBA level.

If he was on a tanking team or a team without playoff/championship expectations, I think he would be showing more of what he's actually capable of. You can't really do that on a team like the Rockets right now.

[Bobbymcgee]

Rockets could of had Stephen Castle.

[JRoy]

I think Reed will be fine as long as he keeps working hard. You don't necessarily need to be super athletic or long to be an acceptable or good defender. Look at guys with similar measurements and athletic profiles like Stockton, McConnell, Hinrich, etc. He has really good hands and is very good at reading angles and creating deflections, so he has the tools to at least be on a similar level to a McConnell or Hinrich.

I never saw him as a Stephen Curry type of player, so I don't think he will ever be that type of player, but I think he can definitely be a starting point guard and potential all-star as long as keeps working hard and improves his confidence on an NBA level.

If he was on a tanking team or a team without playoff/championship expectations, I think he would be showing more of what he's actually capable of. You can't really do that on a team like the Rockets right now.

All those guys were gritty and tough.

Who would call Sheppard tough?

He will need to camp in corner where he can be spoon fed wide open shots by better players.

[Mephariel]

He's not a PG. He's a SG. If you play him at SG with a tall, oversized PG, he's good enough to be a tertiary scorer on a championship team.

His biggest issue will be constantly having to be paired with two tall primary ballhandlers (a tall starting PG and a tall backup PG).

If Amen Thompson can eventually develop into a starting-caliber PG, Sheppard will be just fine.

On a championship team huh? What has he shown thus far in the NBA to say he can be that on the pro level? Not even Tyler Herro or Cam Thomas have shown that and they are way better than he is.

I don't need to see it to project it. I believe in his abilities. I also strongly believe that talented players prosper when they are placed in their proper roles. You and I are different. I have an eye for the present and the future. Apparently, you are only limited to what is in the moment right now.

With all due respect, an ant will have a very hard time understanding an eagle's perspective.

A bit pretentious, don't you think? He was just asking a question.

[Black Jack]

Looks like a career backup which is fine.

People should forget about draft position its unfair to the player.