Reed Sheppard wasn’t presupposed to be a one-and-done prospect, however his freshman season at Kentucky was so excellent that it vaulted him to the No. 3 general decide within the 2024 NBA Draft. The Houston Rockets chosen Sheppard for his knockdown capturing, robust really feel for the sport, and razor-sharp palms that specialised in forcing turnovers. Whereas he’s struggling to carve out rotation minutes on a deep and proficient Rockets workforce to begin his rookie yr, he reminded everybody of why he was such a excessive decide with one particular play towards the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday evening.
Because the Rockets have been blowing out the Blazers within the third quarter, Sheppard stripped Rayan Rupert on a drive to the basket, chased down the free ball, after which dove into the stands whereas firing a behind-the-back move that landed completely within the palms of teammate Tari Eason for a simple dunk. Watch the play right here:
Sheppard is tiny for an NBA participant at 6’2 with a 6’3 wingspan, however he’s so good in so many areas that he can overcome his lack of measurement. This play is a premium instance of that.
Whereas this isn’t fairly nearly as good as DeMar DeRozan’s spinning assist last season, it looks like top-of-the-line passes this yr, made even higher by the good defensive play initially of the sequence.
It might be enjoyable to see Sheppard get extra minutes, however the Rockets are taking part in nice ball proper now both method. He’s solely going to have extra of those spotlight reel performs as his minutes enhance.
