Getty Reed Sheppard handling the basketball during a March 15 game against Texas A&M.
Armed with two top-10 picks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs are in prime position to upgrade the roster around Rookie of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama.
In a mock draft for ESPN, Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo debated team need and value for all 30 first-round picks.
They agreed unanimously in their mock of Reed Sheppard to the Spurs at fourth overall.
“Sheppard, ranked No. 4 in ESPN’s Top 100, is one of the best shooters in this draft class,” Givony wrote. “He’s unselfish and possesses an outstanding feel for the game.”
Sheppard is coming off of a freshman season with the Kentucky Wildcats where he averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. He shot 53% and 52% from the field and the three-point line respectively.
Woo argues he has a ceiling as the draft’s best-shooting point guard.
“Sheppard’s elite analytical profile makes him a top-five option for many teams in addition to being a clear need for the Spurs,” Woo added. “While he doesn’t have the typical physical toolbox that portends great upside, at some point one has to take the numbers and film seriously — if you project him as the draft’s best-shooting point guard, there’s room for him to build off that skill.”
San Antonio’s biggest need is point guard. Sheppard will likely be the first available and off the board. At fourth overall, the Spurs will have their pick of the point guard litter.
Jimmer Fredette is Sheppard’s NBA Comp
Sheppard’s NBA comparison on NBADraft.net is Jimmer Fredette. That’s not a name you want to be tied to coming into the NBA.
Fredette was a 10th overall pick out of BYU. He played his first two seasons with the Sacramento Kings before bouncing around between three other teams over the next two seasons and subsequently heading overseas.
No one’s predicting Sheppard to flame out after four years in the NBA. The two guard’s skill sets may be similar, but it’s on the Kentucky product to make it translate to the NBA.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer wrote that Sheppard has shades of Boston Celtics‘ x-factor Derrick White in his June 4 mock draft.
“A menacing defender and sparkplug scorer who plays bigger than his body,” O’Connor wrote.
O’Connor mocked him fifth to the Detroit Pistons, a team where “…there’d be low pressure on Sheppard to become an on-ball guy; he could instead develop those skills over time.”
That’s not the case in San Antonio.
PG to Be Priority for Spurs
There’s only one certainty to the Spurs‘ offseason agenda, and it’s their plans to bring on a new starting point guard.
Sheppard is 19 years old. Even for an NBA rookie, he’s got a real lack of experience. If drafted, Sheppard would likely fall into a sixth man role in San Antonio.
They’ve been linked to Chris Paul and Trae Young, amongst other names as potential targets.
Whether or not they’ll assume a rookie guard to join the starting lineup is undetermined. They’re capable of swinging a deal for players like Paul or Young, should they become available.
The New Orleans Pelicans made a similar move, trading for CJ McCollum to help guide first overall pick Zion Williamson. Anthony Edwards was joined by Mike Conley on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wembanyama is the only priority in San Antonio. Finding him a point guard tops the list of ways to make his job easier next season.
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