NBA analyst Tom Haberstroh thinks very highly of Houston Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard, so much so that he reckons the guard is the closest thing he’s seen to Stephen Curry in a long time. Haberstroh made the bold comment while discussing Sheppard’s chances of winning Rookie of the Year on The Kevin O’Connor Show.
“He’s not Steph Curry, but I think he is the closest thing to Steph Curry we’ve seen in a long time,” Haberstroh said.
Kevin O’Connor agreed with Haberstroh’s assessment of Sheppard. O’Connor had the guard at the top of his draft board for 2024 and firmly believes big things lie ahead for him.
Sheppard is a terrific marksman, who shot 52.1% from beyond the arc in his only season at Kentucky. The 20-year-old has got tremendous range and these two are far from the only ones to think he has some Curry in him.
Sheppard’s teammate Cam Whitmore was recently asked what he’d seen from the third overall pick this offseason and he too brought up Curry.
“I saw Steph Curry, a little bit,” Whitmore said. “Not trying to over-exaggerate it, but yeah, he’s a great player. His defense, he knows where to find the ball, knows how to read the defenders. I said it at Summer League, he’s going to be a great player.”
Sheppard averaged 20.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game in the NBA2K25 Summer League. He went an efficient 50% from the field but surprisingly struggled from three, shooting only 27.8% from beyond the arc.
Sheppard couldn’t find that shooting touch in his preseason debut for the Rockets against the Utah Jazz on Monday either. The guard finished the game with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks while going 2-7 from the field and 0-4 from three.
That’s certainly not Curry-esque, but even the great man struggled with his shot earlier on in the Olympics. He eventually caught fire in the semifinal and final to lead Team USA to the gold.
I’d expect those threes to start going in for Sheppard sooner rather than later too. I don’t think he’s going to be as good as Curry, but if he turns out to be even half the player, the Rockets would be extremely happy.
NBA GMs Are Also Very High On Reed Sheppard
The NBA’s annual GM survey was conducted recently and it turns out a lot of them hold Sheppard in very high regard. He received 50% of the votes when it came to Rookie of the Year predictions, with Memphis Grizzlies big man Zach Edey coming in at second place with 30% of the votes.
I don’t think Sheppard is going to win ROY, though. The Rockets have the likes of Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, and Jalen Green among their ranks, so I don’t expect the rookie to put up big numbers. I think Sheppard will be in the mix for the award but won’t win it.
The GMs were also asked who would be the best player from this class in five years and 43% of them went with Sheppard. San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle was a distant second at 17%.
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