In this year's NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets unsurprisingly used their picks to select freshman backcourt star Reed Sheppard from the University of Kentucky. Although the Rockets still had a second-round pick, they eventually made a series of trades and traded that second-round pick for wing star AJ Griffin from the Atlanta Hawks. And after the draft, the Rockets made a quick move, signing N'Faly Dante from the University of Oregon's fifth-year Malian interior lineman N'Faly Dante on a two-way contract.
里德-谢泼德（Reed Sheppard）
Final Order: Tanhua Lot
Previous team: University of Kentucky (NCAA)
Date of birth: June 2004
Place of birth: London, Kentucky, USA
Position: Twin Guards
Barefoot height: 187.3cm
Arm span: 191.1cm
Standing touch height: 237.5cm
Weight: 89.1kg
Template: Mike Bibby
Honors: 2024 USBWA Rookie of the Year, 2024 SEC League Rookie of the Year, 2024 SEC League All-NBA Second Team
National High School Student Rankings (Class of 2023): 27th (4-star) on On3, 72nd (4-star) 247, 22nd (4-star) on ESPN, 27th (4-star) on Rivals
Stats this season: 33 appearances, 28.9 minutes per game, 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 2 turnovers, shooting 53.6% from the field, 52.1% from three-point range, and 83.1% from the free throw line.
Note 1: Shepard's father, Jeff Sheppard, was also a former University of Kentucky player, he helped the University of Kentucky win the NCAA championship in 1996 and 1998, he was also the 1998 NCAA Final Four MOP winner, and Jeff Sheppard also played for an NBA team, the Atlanta Hawks.
Note 2: Shepard's mother, Stacey Reed, was also a former University of Kentucky player and scored over 1,400 points in the NCAA.
备注3：谢泼德的姐姐麦迪逊-谢泼德（Madison Sheppard）曾在康伯斯威尔大学（Campbellsville University）打球，康伯斯威尔大学不是NCAAD1级别球队，参加的是NAIA比赛。
Advantage:
Shepard is an all-round backcourt player who is both offensive and defensive, and has a very well-rounded technique. He's got a very good shooting ability on the offensive end, his three-point grasp is ridiculously high, he can also use his mid-range shooting to create a threat, and his offensive efficiency can be said to be far beyond everyone's expectations. And he's also very good off the ball movement, and it looks like he has every chance of developing into a top-tier outside shooter. Shepard can also use his breakthrough to score at times, and he also has a small toss, and his finishing ability is actually quite good. Shepard is also very good at seeing the opponent's defensive holes, and he is also a very good pick-and-roll initiator. Shepard is capable of scoring both on his own and off the ball, and his ability to do so is very well-rounded. As a backcourt player, Shepard's passing ability and playmaking skills are also quite good, and he can take on the role of playmaker at the back to a certain extent. In addition, Shepard's ability to control the ball, various techniques and basic skills are also worthy of recognition.
Defensively, it seems that Shepard's ability is seriously underrated, and his defensive talent is indeed quite amazing. Shepard has excellent defensive ability and defensive awareness, his defensive pressing and defensive anticipation are very good, his stealing ability can be said to far exceed everyone's expectations, and it is no exaggeration to say that he is also one of the best outside defenders in the entire NCAA arena.
It is undeniable that Shepard's static talent is very average, and his reach and touch height are completely undominant among the No. 1 players, but as a white player, his dynamic talent far exceeds everyone's expectations, and his multiple physical data are among the best among all the players who participated in the test, and he may be one of the best all-round athletic backcourt players in this rookie.
Inferior position:
As mentioned earlier, Shepard's static talent is indeed a bit too bad, and he is completely undominant among the No. 1 players, and while his defensive ability is quite good, it is worrying that he will be able to maintain such defensive efficiency against taller opponents. On top of that, Shepard could be a little awkward in his position as a backcourt player. As a No. 1 player, it's a question mark over whether his ability to control the dribble and his passing and playmaking skills will be up to par; As a No. 2 player, Shepard seems to be a little too short in terms of size, and he will face greater tests and challenges on the defensive end. Other than that, however, Shepard doesn't seem to have any particularly obvious shortcomings, and in reality, given Shepard's extremely athletic ability, it can also compensate for his lack of static talent to some extent.
恩法利-丹特（N'faly Dante）/马里籍
Final Order: Defeated
Previous team: University of Oregon (NCAA)
Date of birth: October 2001
Place of birth: Bamako, Mali
Position: Centre
Height: 208.3cm
Arm span: 228.6cm
Standing touch height: 281.9cm
Weight: 118kg
Grade: Year 5
Honors: 2023 Pac 12 All-Conference First Team, 2024 Pac 12 All-Conference First Team, 2024 Pac 12 All-League Defensive Team
National High School Student Rankings (Class of 2019): 26th on 3 (4 stars), 247th (5 stars), 29th on ESPN (4 stars), None on Rivals (5 stars)
Stats for the season: 22 appearances, 31.4 minutes per game, 17 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.9 blocks, and 2.4 turnovers, shooting 69.5% from the field and 61.3% from the free throw line.
Notes: He suffered a knee injury in January 2020 and missed a significant number of games, and suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee in December 2020 and was out for the season.
Advantage:
Dent is a physically gifted, athletic, and energetic interior player. Dante has excellent low-post scoring ability and finishing ability under the basket, and with his physical talent and matchup ability, he is indeed a strong threat under the opponent's basket, and he can also force inside kills with back-to-back shots at times. Dante's ability to move off the ball is also to be recognized, and he was able to find some scoring opportunities for himself to score under the basket. Dent was also able to pull off some easy points with pick-and-roll manufacturing.
Dante's role on the defensive end is also quite prominent, and he is a relatively reliable interior defender. He's got pretty good rebounding protection, and he's got good basket protection. His height, reach, athleticism, and agility are all pretty good. He has a lot of potential to tap on the defensive end, and if he can improve his defensive focus and improve his defensive awareness, he may have a chance to develop into a reliable interior defender.
Inferior position:
Relatively speaking, Dent still lacks some independent scoring ability, his scoring skills on the offensive end are still a little lacking, his basic skills are actually not particularly solid, and he is still a little passive on the offensive end. Other than that, Dent has little shooting ability, and his performance at the free-throw line is a bit less than ideal, most of his scoring comes from eating cakes and hitting the basket, and he is still too passive on the offensive end. Dent is also not a player with excellent passing ability and a big picture view, and it looks like he will struggle to improve more in this area as well. Dent may also have some issues with his movement speed, and there are some concerns about whether his movement speed can adapt to the intensity of the NBA when it comes to the NBA.
It is worth noting that Dante has suffered a number of knee injuries in the NCAA and suffered a serious cruciate ligament tear in his left knee, which has caused him to miss a large number of games, and he also has physical problems. In addition, by the start of the NBA regular season next season, Dent will be 23 years old, and he is indeed a little older in age, and how much potential he still has to tap is also a huge question mark.
Summary:
The Rockets are still very sensible in the draft, they are not influenced by outside factors and choose Donovan Clingan, the No. 5 player they don't need, and Shepard's arrival can also complement the team's shortcomings in the No. 1 position. If Shepard can show enough competitiveness next season, he could even have a chance to become the successor to current starting point guard Fred VanVleet. As for Dante, he bears a lot of similarities to Klingen in terms of function, and he has a high level of dominance on both ends of the floor. It's also a very ideal thing to be able to sign in after the draft to lose at such a level.
Rating: A-