The Houston Rockets enter the 2025-26 NBA season with questions at the point guard position. Fred VanVleet was going to be the starting point guard until he tore his ACL.
With him having this major injury, Houston is going to have to figure out who will play the position. Two potential options to be the point guard this year could be Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson. Thompson was a starter last season for the Rockets and Sheppard was not. Could there be a bigger role carved out for him this season?
Reed Sheppard may have to step up
Fred Katz of the Athletic has questions about the Western Conference contenders as the upcoming season approaches. It is not a secret that with VanVleet being sidelined with a torn ACL, there are going to be questions about where the play making is going to come from. It remains to be seen who will be the point guard for the Rockets in his absence.
One player who could potentially step up into that role is second-year player Sheppard. Katz said, "Could Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft, catapult from out of the rotation to a vital facilitator on a contender?"
He did appear in 52 games last season, but he only averaged 12.6 per minutes per game. Will his minutes skyrocket this year? It may have to. Sheppard is only 21 years old and was the third overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft from the Kentucky Wildcats.
During his rookie season with the Rockets, he averaged 4.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.3 BPG, and 0.7 SPG. He also shot 35.1% from the field. It would be a major jump for Sheppard to be the starting point guard this season. This team needs to figure out the position after trading for Kevin Durant in the offseason. If they can't figure out the position internally, then they will need to find the solution externally.
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