Refusing to sign the defender! The Rockets want to compensate you, Stone shows off Shepard, and also talks about Amen Thompson

The Rockets' off-season lineup was perfectly upgraded. In the past, their shortcomings were that they had no superstars and were prone to losing chains at critical moments. Last season, he lost many games due to this situation. After all, Jaylen Green is indeed unreliable, and Durant's joining made the Rockets feel like a big wing. Although the God of Death is old, his condition is still very good. The Rockets can allow young players to play more in the new season. If they are behind in the final quarter or the score difference cannot be extended, then hand the ball to Durant, in other words, the God of Death can just play in the fourth quarter. In addition, the Rockets also signed Capela, Finney Smith and Okogie, and renewed VanVreet, Smith and Adams.

Whitmore was traded to the Wizards, and Uduka could even play three lineups, but the starting lineup is likely to be Van Vreet + Amen + Durant + Smith + Shinkin. The only problem here may be the guard. Amen is theoretically not suitable to play No. 2 because his shooting is a little bit bad. Many Rockets fans believe that Van Vreet should be a substitute and let Amen play No. 1 starting position. Unfortunately, this idea is unrealistic. Stone said in an interview some time ago that Van Vreet will still be the team's starting point guard, so Amen can only play No. 2, which is equivalent to creating pressure on him. Amen must practice his shooting. Overall, the Rockets have not signed a defender in the offseason.

The other positions have been strengthened, and the guards are missing Jaylen Green. The new season will test the Rockets' guard's shooting ability. In addition, the reason why the Rockets' guards do not sign people is actually waiting for Shepard to grow up. What is certain is that Van Vreet starts, Shepard will be the first substitute, Holiday will be abandoned. The Rockets attach great importance to Shepard in the new season. His appearance time will be greatly improved, at least 20 minutes of play. Shepard didn't have much chance last season. This really can't blame Uduka. After all, the Rockets' goal is the playoffs, which means that she cannot give Shepard enough training opportunities, unlike the No. 1 pick and the second team are playing badly.

From a certain perspective, the new season will be a good opportunity for Shepard to prove himself. If he can play, he will make up for Jaylen Green's shooting ability to leave the team, which means that he will sooner or later replace Van Vreet's starting position, and it will be one of the futures of the Rockets. But if he can't play, then Shepard will be in danger. There is a possibility of being traded next year's offseason. Referring to Jaylen Green and Whitmore, since the young man can't play, it's better to trade it and exchange it for experienced veterans. Shepard's projection ability is basically fine and his organizational ability is OK, but his flaw is poor confrontation and poor defense.

And these are the places where Shepard needs to improve, and it is also the places where the Rockets want to see him improve. To sum up, the Rockets' seventh young man, Jaylen Green and Whitmore, made the Rockets think that the Rockets could not be cultivated, so they were abandoned. The next management focus will be Shepard. From a certain perspective, Shepard also had highlight moments last season, such as scoring 25 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists against the Thunder, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists against the Clippers, and 6 of 10 three-pointers. This shows that Shepard has ability, but there are too few opportunities to play, which leads to the inability to maintain an efficient shooting rate. As for defense and confrontational ability, it is indeed impossible to solve it in a short period of time. The good news is that the Rockets official posted photos of Shepard's off-season training, and he has become much stronger.

It can be seen that Shepard is very clear about his shortcomings and is also trying to solve them. This is undoubtedly a favorable factor for the Rockets. Rockets general manager Stone recently accepted an interview with ESPN. First of all, he made it clear that many teams in the offseason are interested in Shepard, but the Rockets refused, which shows that the Rockets attach great importance to Shepard at least for the moment and want to train him. Then Stone continued: "We need Shepard to make progress throughout the summer. If you are the top five rookie and the team selected is a team in the lottery zone, they will hand the ball to you to give you time to make mistakes and then learn, but we, the Rockets, cannot do this. In the new season, we will give Shepard more opportunities to make up for some of his ball rights, but we have to see how the result is."

Stone's meaning is easy to understand. In the Rockets, Shepard does not have much opportunity to learn, and he must play out immediately, otherwise the position will be unstable and there is a possibility of being traded. It can be seen that Stone is warning Shepard that he needs to prove himself as soon as possible. Next Stone talked about Amen again, and he compared Amen and Shepard. Stone said: "Amen Thompson was the same in the past. We gave him some opportunities, but Amen has been improving. He was selected into the best defensive team. If he can't play the point guard, we can let him play the forward line. Obviously he did a great job." Stone's words were actually a warning to Shepard. Amen seized the opportunity and proved himself. If Shepard couldn't do it, then you really have to leave. After all, Shepard can't play the point guard, except for the point guard.