Reed Sheppard, Cason Wallace named to NBA Rising Stars event

A pair of former Kentucky Wildcats will be in San Francisco next month for the NBA’s annual All-Star Weekend.

It was announced Tuesday that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace and Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard were named to the 2025 NBA Rising Stars event. 28 of the league’s best young talents were split into three groups for this event. Wallace was named to the pool of Sophomore players while Sheppard was actually included in the G League pool, not with the pool of Rookie players.

This year’s edition of the Rising Stars (Friday, Feb. 14) features a four-team mini-tournament with the winning team advancing to the actual All-Star Game’s mini-tournament (Sunday, Feb. 16), which is brand-new to the event in 2025. The seven G League players will make up their own Rising Stars team while the remaining 21 freshmen and sophomores will be drafted into three teams.

2025 NBA Rising Stars rosters released: pic.twitter.com/0e7Bb7CbW4

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 28, 2025

Wallace is more than deserving of his spot in this event. After being named All-Rookie in 2023-24, the former 10th overall draft pick has been even more productive in 2024-25. Starting in the OKC backcourt alongside MVP frontrunner/fellow former ‘Cat, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace is averaging 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.7 steals in 27.8 minutes per outing. He mostly serves as a defensive specialist but shoots 44.9 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from deep. The Thunder currently hold the NBA’s best overall record at 37-8.

Sheppard’s nomination is a bit more interesting. The former No. 3 overall pick in the last draft has spent most of his rookie season with the Rockets. He’s appeared in 32 games this season but with per-game averages of only 3.2 points in 11.3 minutes. Houston is surprisingly good this season with the Western Conference’s second-best record (31-14). Sheppard has played minimally or not at all for most of the season.

But earlier this month, the Rockets front office sent him to the G League where he played just three games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Sheppard scored 49 points in his debut while averaging 30.7 points, eight assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. He shot 46.3 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from deep, later being named G League Player of the Week before Houston immediately brought him back up to the NBA.

Regardless of the how, Sheppard will participate in his first-ever All-Star Weekend. Along with Wallace, he’ll join Gilgeous-Alexander and Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK) out west. SGA and KAT were named All-Star Game starters last week. The reserves will be announced on Thursday with the likes of Tyler Herro (MIA) and Anthony Davis (LAL) expected to be considered for the remaining 14 spots.