That’s praise.
Reed Sheppard has the chance to be special.
While not many seemed to truly think he deserved to be the No. 3 overall pick, fans were quickly accustomed to just how good he actually is during the Las Vegas Summer League, where we wooed those watching with his outrageous handle and pinpoint sharpshooting.
Sheppard had some eye-popping stats with the Kentucky Wildcats. Even though he didn’t lead the team in scoring, for Sheppard, it is always going to be less about volume and more about efficiency.
The Kentucky native guard shot 53.6% from deep and 52.1% from downtown while knocking down 83.1% of his free-throw attempts. He also has an SEC-high 2.5 steals per game.
That, and his Summer League performance, is why NBA personality Tom Haberstroh thinks he could be the next Stephen Curry, a multi-time MVP and multi-time NBA Championship who changed the way basketball is played globally.
“He’s not Steph Curry, but I think he is the closest thing to Steph Curry we’ve seen in a long time…”
– Tom Haberstroh on Reed Sheppard
(Via the Kevin O’Connor Show / h/t @GormanChristoph) pic.twitter.com/ANjHVZLvVR
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 8, 2024
That’s high praise, and it’ll take the ultimate ceiling for Sheppard to get anywhere close to the career Curry has had. But it wouldn’t be unthinkable, especially after what we saw during the summer league on both ends of the court.
Expect big things from the Rockets guard, even as a rookie.