In the 2024 draft, the Rockets, who are holding the pick, did not choose center Klingen, but chose Shepard, a shooter from the University of Kentucky. Shepard's biggest characteristic is that he is accurate, but his static talent is really limited.
Shepard is 20 years old, 1.91 meters tall, 1.91 meters long, weighs 83 kilograms, and plays as a defender. In the 2023-24 season, he played in 33 games for the University of Kentucky, averaging 28.9 minutes per game, scoring 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.7 blocks while shooting 53.6% from the field, 52.1% from three-point range and 83.1% from the free throw line.
His strengths are obvious, despite his low height, he has good defensive instincts and defensive judgment, a strong ability to interfere with ball carriers, and an excellent tackling ability when he is not on the ball, which can disrupt the opponent's attack. And the ability to control emotions is very good, able to adjust themselves in time, and will not affect the attack and defense of the next round because of the mistakes in the previous round. He has a strong mental quality, is willing to step up at critical moments, and has a good hit rate at critical moments. Shooting is his greatest strength, he shoots quickly, has a high starting point, has a long range, has both the ball and the ball, and is also a great playmaker who sees the big picture well, especially when playing pick-and-rolls, always finding open teammates.
However, his shortcomings are also obvious, static, height, reach and touch height are very low levels among No. 1 players, which will make him suffer in defense and be easily beaten by opponents against tall and strong opponents. Due to his lack of experience in singles, he is very easy to defend against opponents. In addition, his defensive skills and defensive pressing need to be polished.
Overall, Shepard is a two-way guard with excellent shooting skills, good passing ability, and excellent ball-handling defense, and despite his average static talent and lack of explosiveness, he is one of the few players in this rookie class who can bring instant power, which is a good choice, especially for the Rockets, who lack three-point shooting, and may really be a surprise.