So what if he averages 4+1+1 per game? The main defender is retired, and the 21-year-old No. 1 player is sitting on the bench. He has a chance to make a comeback!

Not long ago, this season's NBA preseason games have ended. The Rockets, who have been crazy about signings this summer, did not have any surprises. In all four games, they won them all easily. And the scary thing is that in these games, the team's firepower is quite amazing, all the scores exceeded 120 points, and three of them scored 130 points. Among the teams, there is one player whose performance is absolutely amazing. He is Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick in 2024. After a year of being ignored, he broke out.

Although last year's rookies are considered to have the worst overall quality and ability after the 2000 rookies, Sheppard's performance in college was still quite good. However, because the Rockets are full of talents, and Fred VanVleet and Jaylen Green have long-term control of playing time on the back line, it is difficult for him to get a chance to play, averaging only 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. But it has to be said that he is a chosen one. With Green being traded, VanVleet was unexpectedly seriously injured and reimbursed, which immediately gave him a God-given opportunity. Let's take a look at Sheppard's basketball story below and see how hard it was for him to wait!

Born into a basketball family, he is a star player in college.

Sheppard has had the "golden key" in his mouth since he was born, because he was born into a basketball family. His father, Damon Shepard, used to be a member of the University of Kentucky's school team, and his mother, Michelle, was also a member of the Kentucky women's basketball team. They trained together for a long time, which brought the Shepards together. Therefore, from an early age, Shepard was deeply influenced by the basketball culture, and under the systematic training of his parents, his basketball skills improved by leaps and bounds.

In high school, he attended North Laurel High School in Kentucky, where he gained a certain reputation. Not only was he selected as the best player of the year and selected to the state's best team many times, but he also helped his high school win the high school league championship. However, because his physical fitness was not that great, he was only a four-star high school student when he graduated from high school.

Fortunately, he has the blessing of his parents, and he does have good shooting and overall perspective, so he still got an invitation letter from the University of Kentucky. As the saying goes, if you don't have enough talent, you have to work hard. Sheppard understands that his talent cannot be compared with those "monsters", so he polishes his shooting every day and works hard on the defensive end.

This impressed the team. Not only did he become a key part of the team, but he also posted comprehensive statistics of 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals. His shooting and three-point shooting percentages were extremely terrifying 53.6% and 52.1%. With this performance, he was directly selected for the Southeastern Conference's best second team and best freshman team, and won the best freshman trophy. There were no surprises. After his freshman season, Shepard declared his participation in the NBA draft.

You are the top pick in the draft, but you can only sit on the bench.

Since last year was a small year for the draft, Sheppard was still spotted by the Rockets even though he did not have such attractive talents, and became the third overall pick of this draft. Since the Rockets have obtained a number of quality players through a large number of drafts over the years, Shepard has felt tremendous pressure since he was selected.

Of course, he was not defeated by the pressure. In the 2024 Summer League, he went all out in every game. As a result, his data reached an astonishing 20 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and on the defensive end, he had 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks. Such a data sheet is perfect. He can stand out in the summer league, which at least proves that among this rookie class, his ability is worthy of being the third overall pick. And with his outstanding performance, he was selected into the best team of this tournament, which is undoubtedly a good start for his career.

But in the regular season, his lack of experience and general physical fitness issues were exposed one by one. Unlike the summer league, the intensity and pace of the NBA games are difficult for many rookies to adapt to, which is why parallel imports appear every year. The Rockets were already in the stage of taking off again and could not give Shepard any chance to make mistakes. Therefore, last season, Shepard struggled very hard and his playing time was very sporadic. He only averaged 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in a total of only 12.6 minutes. His proud shooting percentage was even more appalling. In addition, in the playoffs, he was almost abandoned, playing only 3 games and 10 minutes in total. It can be said that the success of the Rockets last season had little to do with his performance.

This God-given opportunity has given me a positive attitude.

Fortunately, in order to get Kevin Durant this summer, the team directly traded Jaylen Green and Dillon Brooks. Coupled with VanVleet's unexpected injury, the Rockets' back line suddenly became empty. This is undoubtedly a good opportunity for Shepard to take the lead. He did not disappoint the fans. After his second appearance in the summer league, his data remained at 23 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 4 steals and 2.5 blocks. It can be said that the current Shepard playing in the summer league is almost equivalent to a dimension reduction attack.

The most obvious thing is that he has grown a lot bigger. He no longer avoids confrontation and can handle the ball with ease. In the preseason game that ended not long ago, he also posted comprehensive statistics of 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks. His shooting and three-point shooting percentages reached 51.2% and 40.7% respectively.. It can be believed that as long as he maintains this performance, Shepard will definitely have a place in the Rockets.