Sheppard's expanded role fuels his scoring surge and rising efficiency. He's capitalizing on increased minutes, showcasing dramatic sophomore year growth.
After being drafted 3rd overall in 2024, it was a bit of an unusual season for Rockets guard Reed Sheppard. Most top picks go to the worst teams in the league, but Houston was in a unique position.
After trading away franchise icon, James Harden, Brooklyn owed the Rockets a plethora of draft capital —— but after the Nets also traded Harden, their playoff hopes dwindled.
This left Brooklyn as a lottery team who had already sent their future draft picks away. So while Houston was fighting for playoff positioning, they were now rewarded with a top three pick. In comes Reed Sheppard.
In his debut season, Reed only played in 52 NBA games, getting pretty limited playing time. He added an additional three games in the G-League after being sent down there for the start of 2025. This quick trip earned him player of the week in the G-League.
A big positive, averaging over 30 points per game there on nearly 40-50-90 shooting splits. 47-percent from the field is all that held him back, shooting 100-percent from the free throw line and 40.5-percent from deep, per Basketball-Reference.
Comparing that to this season, he’s already played in all 53 games for the Rockets and I don’t think there’s any chance of him going down to the G-League any time soon.
Basketball-Reference also shows him improving in virtually every category, but obviously that's all made possible by his increase in minutes. From 12.6 minutes per game, he’s nearly doubled that with 24.7 minutes averaged this season. His number of games started has doubled too, from three to six.
He’s scoring 8.3 more points per game and increased his effective field goal percentage by an identical 8.3-percent. Despite recently having a substantial shooting slump, there’s still been drastic improvements in this sophomore outing.
While the increased minutes should be no surprise due to VanVleet’s ACL injury, the improved performance is a welcome sign for the Rockets.
As we enter into the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend, Sheppard is set to play in the Rising Stars Tournament later this evening. He’ll be joining his teammates Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün for the festivities, as previously covered on Roundtable.
This is a perfect time for Reed to take advantage of the more exhibition style of play typically seen in these games. After struggling to consistently knock down shots to start 2026, he’s shot a combined 9/16 (56.25-percent) from three to close out this week against the Clippers.
Carrying that hot streak into the rest of the regular season would be a huge boost for his team. Don’t be surprised if he gets his three point shooting back over 40-percent by the end of the season.