1. Ability To Provide Floor Spacing
There's no secret with Reed Sheppard. His best skillset is his ability to shoot the ball. There's also no secret in what the Rockets needed and that was shooting.
The Rockets ranked 23rd last year in three-point percentage and are coming off of a 2023 Draft in which they selected Amen Thompson, a non-threat from three.
They have Thompson, Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet who all are players that need the ball in their hands to be successful. All three would benefit greatly from another knockdown shooter on the perimeter and someone who can play specifically off the ball.
Only two Rockets' players made more than two 3s a game -- one of which being Jalen Green who shot just 33 percent from three.
Sheppard shot 52.1 percent from three last year and hit 75 3s. 54.7 percent of his shot attempts were from deep last year, while he ranked in the 97th percentile in spot up 3s. He averaged 1.51 points per possession on spot up opportunities.
Those are insane numbers and will translate right away to the NBA.