Reed Sheppard scored 27 points Wednesday and kept Houston in position for a win over the Milwaukee Bucks, the latest sign that the Rockets may already have their answer at point guard. Houston is 13-4 when Sheppard starts, and the rookie guard’s best performance yet arrived at a moment when the team has been searching for more stability and shooting in the backcourt.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report wrote that the Rockets should embrace sophomore Reed Sheppard as their starting point guard after Houston went undefeated this week and got even more evidence that the move fits. That view has gained force because the Rockets used a top-three pick on Sheppard and have been relatively thin at the guard spot for years, while also lacking outside shooters. Even before Wednesday, the expectation heading into the 2025-26 NBA season was that he would take on a much larger role.
Instead, Sheppard had been operating mostly as a reserve guard in coach Ime Udoka’s rotations, which made the early return feel more cautious than transformative. Houston’s roster construction still helped set the stage for him to matter, though, and that is why the debate around him has sharpened now: the team drafted him high, needs spacing, and has started to get production when he is on the floor from the opening tip.
The tension for Houston is not whether Sheppard can help; it is how long the Rockets can keep treating him like a secondary option if the results keep pointing the other way. Comparisons to Steve Nash and Mark Price have already followed him, but the more immediate test is simpler. If the Rockets want the offense to look less cramped and more reliable, they may have to live with Sheppard in the role his play is beginning to demand.
