2024 NBA Draft scouting report: Reed Sheppard

2023 Kentucky Mr. Basketball hails from London, Kentucky, where he played at North Laurel High School. His high school tenure landed him an offer from the University of Kentucky, the same school his father played for in the 1990s. If you travel near Lexington, home of the Kentucky Wildcats, they will know the name of Jeff Sheppard, a two-time national champion. While Reed was not able to reach the same heights in his lone season with the Wildcats, his performance comfortably lands him as a top-of-the-lottery projection.

He will turn 20 years old two days prior to the first round of the NBA draft on June 26th.

Sheppard measured at just 6’1.75” without shoes on, weighed 181.6 pounds, and held a 6’3.25” wingspan. He was the ninth shortest player at the combine, and his wingspan doesn’t do him any favors. His size is underwhelming, but his 42-inch maximum vertical leap was the best in the combine. Perhaps, if he were both taller and quicker, there would be nearly no question marks around him as a draft prospect. Though his vertical leap is impressive, no one would describe his game as explosive. Despite a less-than-ideal frame, Sheppard is a craftsman on the hardwood.

Sheppard excelled in many areas in college. He played in the SEC, a notoriously fast-paced and athletic basketball conference, averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. One of his unquestionable strengths is his ability as a shooter, boasting an incredible 52.1 three-point percentage on 4.4 attempts per game. He can shoot from deep, on the move, and excels in catch-and-shoot opportunities. As if there were any doubts, his three-point shooting at the combine went as expected.

An area that Sheppard didn’t use as much as the three-ball is the midrange, but I expect that volume to increase at the next level. He even mentioned Devin Booker as a player to learn from in an interview with Shams. Booker has long been one of the best midrange shooters in the NBA, and I believe in a successful world, Sheppard’s NBA game will have flashes of the same stuff we see from Booker; Being able to get to his spots on the floor, rise, and knock down jumpers.

Another promising aspect of Sheppard’s game is his playmaking. He often displayed great court vision with Kentucky, especially in transition. He would occasionally force a pass he shouldn’t have, but he did a lot for his Kentucky team to get in the flow of an offense. Whether he can be a point guard who handles the ball and runs the offense for all of his minutes is a question to be answered. I best view him as a connective off-ball point guard.

While the lack of size and underwhelming athleticism limits his defensive upside to most, his instincts are unbelievable. He was far from a defensive liability in college. Sheppard had great timing on steals, and blocks, and was an interrupter all season. While he wasn’t a “defensive stopper” that would lock down a matchup one on one, he can best be described as a defense playmaker, or defensive interrupter, if you will. He has instincts on both sides of the ball that are hard to teach, which is part of the reason he’s so enamored as a prospect.

Back to his size. At under 6’2” in height and under 6’4” in wingspan, there’s a question mark around him holding his own in the league defensively, especially in isolation. I think it’s fair to say he will need to put on muscle to not be targeted on defense, and work still needs to be done on that end, specifically in lateral quickness, if he wants to keep up with the elusive guards in today’s NBA. But due to his IQ and ball instincts, I am inclined to believe he can be a serviceable defender.

It’s tough to say where Sheppard would be drafted in a draft class that isn’t regarded as one of the worst of the decade. While there’s no obvious, premier upside talent, I do think the disrespect to this class is overblown. However, I find it highly unlikely he will land in the hands of the Hawks. Many compare Sheppard to the likes of Austin Reaves, which is very fair in terms of handle and playmaking, but I believe Sheppard to be a much more polished shooter at this point in his career. Sheppard is a touch smaller, but he can expect to step into a similar role as Reaves with the Los Angeles Lakers.

However, his final game in the NCAA tournament was concerning. in 26 minutes of play, Sheppard took only five field goal attempts and made one of them. He finished with three points, four assists, two steals, and two turnovers. This is not what you hope to see from a lottery pick in March madness, and his counterpart Rob Dillingham didn’t have much more success. Many describe the Kentucky team as having “too many mouths to feed,” which is fair. Nonetheless, if you think a player is one of the five best in college basketball, you’d like to see a better effort to take over the game, whereas Sheppard fell in the backseat.

While an intriguing prospect, there is little-to-no chance Sheppard will be drafted by the Atlanta Hawks. He is not the number one overall pick, and even if the Hawks trade back, they won’t be interested in a small guard.