Over the years, the NBA Summer League has become a vehicle to spotlight some of the best young and upcoming talent in the NBA. This year has been no different with some of the best young stars in the league putting on a show.
However, no star has shined like Reed Sheppard, the 2024 NBA Draft’s No.3 overall pick. The former Kentucky product and Houston Rockets rookie has captured the attention of all NBA Fans, giving them a taste of what to expect during the club’s regular season.
Summer League Sheppard
Sheppard has lit up the Summer League, dazzling the Vegas crowd with awe-inspiring performances.
Despite an ugly shooting performance—going 6-17 from the field—Sheppard managed to finish with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 36 minutes in the Rockets ‘ 87-73 loss to the Pistons, showing his ability to hit big shots and stuff the stat sheet.
He had a jaw-dropping performance last week, posting his best stat line of the summer league-best game: 22 points, six rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and one block in the Rockets’ 109-81 win against the Washington Wizards, more importantly outplaying No.2 overall pick Alex Sarr.
The 6-foot-1 guard has managed to assert himself as one of the standouts during the Vegas Summer League leading some consider him a early favorite for Rookie of the Year.
2024 Rookie Class
Coming into the draft, the knock was that this year’s class wasn’t as star-studded as last season’s, which boasted a standout talent like Victor Wembanyama. Many people viewed the top ten as duds who wouldn’t do much to help the teams that were going to pick them.
However, there are still many quality players, and based on the Summer League, Reed Shepard is one of them. Sheppard has been on a tear in every game leading the Houston Rockets to a 2-1 start in Las Vegas. He has some of the best stats out of all the rookies putting him high in the running for Rookie of the Year already. The 20-year-old has already become a leader for this NBA 2k25 Summer League team. It will be excited to see if he can bring this same intensity to the regular season.
Rockets Lift off into 2024
The Rockets proved themselves to be one of the more exciting young teams in the league and will be looking to build on what they were able to do last season. They shocked the league, finishing 41-41, after spending the previous few seasons as basement dwellers. Despite not making the postseason as a Play-In team, they managed to prove they could be a force in the west for years to come.
They made a significant coaching change from Stephen Silas to Former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka teaching this young team how to win. They had a strong draft, taking Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore and signing Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. They also saw significant growth from franchise cornerstones Jalen Green and Alperun Segun, with Segun putting himself in best center in the league conversations.
Considering how loaded the Western Conference is, it’s hard to pinpoint how good the Rockets will be this upcoming season—some of the best teams in the NBA, like the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks, will be looking to keep their stranglehold on the conference.
With a returning Ja Morant for the Memphis Grizzlies will be playing for something and improved clubs like the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will be very confident after last season’s playoff run. The Houston Rockets will need their rookie to be playing just like he is in the Summer League, especially if he wants Rookie of the Year.
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