You've got to feel for Reed Sheppard. If a player goes with the third pick in the draft, they're almost guaranteed a starting role. But Sheppard might have been the only loser of the Houston Rockets' surprisingly rapid rise to the heights of the Western Conference. All of a sudden in the driver's seat in a push for eventually getting seeded just behind the eventual-champion OKC Thunder, the Rockets clearly prioritized minutes towards winning over development.
Reed was buried at the end of the bench as Houston's third string point guard according to Basketball Reference (probably as low as fourth with Jalen Green logging in minutes as a primary ball handler as well), and even spent a few games in the G League. Pretty long fall for the former SEC Freshman of the Year and the first Kentucky Wildcat off the draft board in 2024.
However, Sheppard did make the most of whatever time he was given. Take his career high 25-point explosion against the champs themselves, in his first NBA start, no less. And for his reward? A projected second go around at third-string, but this time at shooting guard behind Amen Thompson and new signee Dorian Finney-Smith (you can see Alberto De Roa's breakdown of all 30 teams' projected rotations on Hoops Hype). And that's even before you get to the Rockets taking on Kevin Durant as well.
This team is gunning for a championship, and anyone who doesn't keep up will get left behind.
So it's a good thing that Reed Sheppard looks poised to explode after his Summer League debut
Sheppard played like a man possessed to open the 2K26 Summer League, scoring 28 points in 33 minutes. An in a narrow loss to the Clippers, what was possibly even more impressive was the rest of his box score, which reads like the man was about to straight up will Houston to a win. Among his 28 points were six 3's (40% from distance), to go with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three blocks. Pretty damn good for a player who was compared to Donte DiVincenzo in Jonathan Wasserman's 2024 Mock Draft for Bleacher Report.
Sports Illustrated's Alec Elijah speculated that there is a chance for Sheppard to be shut down for the rest of Summer League after seemingly going down with a calf injury after his monster game. And the Rockets have likely seen enough of Sheppard to shut him down anyway. It's not uncommon for players with guaranteed roles to be locked out of some, or all of Summer League play. It happened to Wemby, and is happening to several of the 2025 Rookie Class' biggest names already. And for Sheppard, who averaged around 20 PPG during his three starts last season and seems poised for a leap going into Year 2, Houston should probably play it safe.
The Rockets are still very crowded going into 2026, and for Reed Sheppard to be this good can be nothing but good for them. For a team featuring three All-Stars in the starting lineup (Amen Thompson could very well make it four in another year or two), Houston is unique in that it also goes up to 12 deep. And if Sheppard is truly poised to blow up to the degree that Elijah's article predicts, not only could he leapfrog Finney-Smith in Houston's projected rotation, he might be a legitimate candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.
And if that happens? Houston could very well give KD the post-Warriors championship he so badly wants.