Reed Sheppard could be "the closest thing to Steph Curry" the NBA has seen

We’re big fans of Reed Sheppard here on Kentucky Sports Radio. As the NBA preseason rolls along, more and more NBA fans are jumping onto the Reed Sheppard bandwagon.

In Las Vegas, the Houston guard is the second-choice to win NBA Rookie of the Year (+650), only trailing Zach Edey. Unlike Edey, Sheppard has to deal with a crowded backcourt to put up big numbers in his NBA debut.

Front offices around the league love what they’ve seen from the Kentucky kid too. Each year, NBA.com anonymously surveys general managers across the league. Of the respondents, 50% believe Sheppard will win Rookie of the Year and 43% picked Sheppard as the best player from his draft class in the next five years.

That’s pretty high praise — BUT WAIT. There’s more!

QB Reed throws a touchdown DIME to Amen 🏈 pic.twitter.com/YUoSGhdtxz

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) October 8, 2024

Reed Sheppard Drawing Steph Curry Comps

Kevin O’Connor cultivated a devoted fanbase during his eight years at The Ringer. He recently launched a new show with Yahoo Sports, The Kevin O’Connor Show. Tom Haberstroh, a former frequent flyer on The Matt Jones Podcast, joined him in the show’s debut to secure the creation of the Reed Sheppard Fan Club.

“He is not Steph Curry, but I think he’s the closest thing to Steph Curry that we’ve seen in a long time,” said Haberstroh.

“I do think he’s the best player in this rookie class. I do believe he has the best long-term future in this class. The dude is way more athletic — I know it’s a trope at this point — but if you watch this guy play, he is not a stiff out there. He is not Steph Curry playing below the rim. He’s a lot more dynamic, a lot more athletic, and I think he’s a much better shooter than what you saw at Kentucky, even though he was great percentage-wise. Volume-wise he’s way more than what I shot at Kentucky and the same thing for that guy Devin Booker who turned out to be a much better NBA player than he showed in college.”

Nobody is going to quickly jump on Steph Curry comps, but O’Connor didn’t push back too much.

“There’s never gonna be another Steph, but if he reaches peak level, he could become a Top 10, Top 15, Top 20 type of guy in the NBA.”

O’Connor added, “Reed Sheppard is truly a magnificent shooter and he can do more than that because he’s so feisty on defense. I believe he had three blocked shots in the final two minutes of close games last season for Kentucky. He’s a clutch defensive player, he’s a playmaker on defense in the passing lanes, he’s a smart, intelligent player on offense within the flow of the offense as a passer. I just think Reed Sheppard’s going to be a good ball player for a decade-plus in his career.”