2024 NBA Draft Prospect: Reed Sheppard

Reed Sheppard brings shooting with textbook form, passing, composure, and pesky defense to the court.

2024 NBA Draft prospect: Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)

Height without shoes, Weight, and Age when NBA season begins: 6’2”, 182 pounds, 20 years old

Standing reach: 7’10” | Wingspan: 6’3”

Mock average: 3rd

NBA player ranking for access to combine information: 7th - 10th (for teams drafting 1st to 25th)

5 Observations

1. Passing - Sheppard was primarily the back-up point guard for Kentucky, but he usually played for large chunks of the game as the main point guard for the team. Some of the passes he’s able to make include the hit-ahead pass, passes to shooters or rollers when in mid-air, or falling out of bounds, and passes to shooters when drawing in the defense. Sheppard is a player who keeps the ball moving. He throws quick passes and doesn’t let the ball stick unless he’s getting ready to run a P&R.

2. Shooting - Sheppard has text-book form on his jump shot. He has a quick trigger out of the spot-up with the hop-step, or he has the ability to bring the ball down court and hit a pull-up three comfortably. Sheppard can also go with the pull-up mid-ranger if provided space. When off the ball, Sheppard is ready with his shooting pocket, as a target to quickly catch-and-shoot with little space.

3. Defense - Sheppard is active on defense, whether on or off the ball. He stays low in his stance when guarding 1-on-1 so he can move with the ball handler. If the player is around Sheppard’s size, he can get more physical and dig at the ball handler, as the player is trying to bring the ball up the court. Sheppard keeps his hands moving whether he’s on or off the ball and this leads to him creating deflections and steals (2.5 per game in college). He can get beat on drives, but he will try to recover and stay involved in a play.

4. Versatility - Playing alongside Rob Dillingham in the backcourt, Sheppard can run both the point and shooting guard roles, making him more of a combo guard. Sheppard is very composed when running the offense, and he doesn’t get pressured often. If an initial action isn’t there, Sheppard can reset the offense into a new action.

5. Size - Sheppard doesn’t have a lot of size and this makes driving past wing defenders difficult because he has to settle for lengthy layups, that are difficult to make or have a better chance of getting blocked. When getting bumped in screen action from a big, Sheppard can also be removed from the action, but he’ll try to recover as quick as possible. Despite his lack of size, Sheppard still plays with a lot of energy in trying to crash the boards, even when it looks like he has no chance of getting the board. If there’s a scramble, Sheppard will go to the floor trying to secure the rebound.

What do other draft experts say about Sheppard?

• Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: Catch-and-shoot threat, feel for the game, got that dog in him, off-ball defense

• Jonathan Givony of ESPN: Scoring efficiency

• Krysten Peek of Yahoo! Sports: Smart, impacts the game positively, hits deep 3s, disrupts opposing guards

• NBA Draft Room: Elite 3PT shooter, high basketball IQ, pesky defender

What are Sheppard’s NBA comps?

• My comps: Flashes of CJ McCollum on offense

• Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: Shades of Derrick White

• NBADraftRoom.com: Mike Bibby

Read about other Draft Prospects: Alexandre Sarr | Zaccharie Risacher | Nikola Topic | Ron Holland | Rob Dillingham | Stephon Castle | Dalton Knecht

How would Sheppard fit on the San Antonio Spurs?