Last season, Reed Sheppard was the best shooter in college basketball, shooting 52.1 percent from three-point range in his rookie season. Now, Sheppard will try to become the best rookie shooter in the NBA.
The former Kentucky Wildcat was selected third overall by the Houston Rockets and is expected to be the team’s backup point guard as a rookie. Sheppard will be Fred VanVleet’s backup and, most likely, next season he will take over as the primary point guard for a young and promising Rockets team.
Sheppard has a real chance to break the record for three-pointers made by a rookie in a season. The NBA record for three-pointers made by a rookie is currently held by Keegan Murray of the Sacramento Kings, who set it during the 2022-23 season, making 206 in a single season.
For Sheppard to break that record, he would need to average just over 2.5 three-pointers per game this season. The problem for Sheppard is that it won’t be easy for him to do that as a backup, but he’s definitely capable of doing it.
Add in the factors of other players being injured or VanVleet being out for a few games, and Sheppard will likely start a few games for the Rockets, and if he can hit multiple three-pointers in those games, it will help his chances.
Sheppard is the best starting shooter in this class, so he’ll likely be the most 3-point shooter in this draft class, but the former Wildcat has a real chance to set an NBA record for the Rockets.
