{"id":251720,"date":"2025-09-24T18:41:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T18:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/251720\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T18:41:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T18:41:27","slug":"can-the-houston-rockets-fill-the-fred-vanvoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/251720\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Houston Rockets Fill the Fred VanVoid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scouting Reed Sheppard, Point Amen, and the Rockets\u2019 in-house point guard options in the wake of Fred VanVleet\u2019s unfortunate ACL tear<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ve lost your starting point guard. Sorry about that. Let me just pat you on the back a couple of times. OK, I\u2019ll stop. I know that didn\u2019t help. I get it\u2014you\u2019re reeling. Chips were laid down and chances were taken, and now Fred VanVleet has a torn ACL that could keep him out for all of the 2025-26 season. The Houston Rockets were poised to compete at the very top of the Western Conference, combining their \u201chit first but also hit second and hit last\u201d mentality from last season with the instant offense of Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n

But VanVleet was the bridge between those two ideas, which is why this injury hurts so much on both sides of the ball. He never set the world on fire with pull-up shooting from 3, but he was by far the Rockets\u2019 most reliable spraying passer from the paint in the pick-and-roll, which was one of Houston\u2019s chief avenues for generating good catch-and-shoot looks. When the defense tilted toward VanVleet in those situations, he created a spot-up look 43 percent of the time, and nearly 42 percent of those looks went down.<\/p>\n

Losing Steady Freddy means that the level of defense-warping competency in Houston\u2019s half-court offense will drop, which could have a negative ripple effect for every other player on the roster. I mean, the ball didn\u2019t move well last year (the Rockets were at the bottom of the league in nearly every passing stat), and now they\u2019ve lost their foremost half-court drink stirrer.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all bad. The good news is that the Rockets\u2019 overall piss-and-vinegar vibe should remain intact and help them grind out solutions in the muck. Even if they don\u2019t have FVV and Dillon Brooks, I can\u2019t see an Ime Udoka\u2013coached team that features fire monsters like Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and Alperen Sengun (KD ain\u2019t exactly docile, either) taking a step back in that sense. But if this ACL tear is forcing VanVleet to relinquish the reins, who on the Rockets will be grabbing them? Let\u2019s break down their in-house options.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reed Sheppard during a game against the Thunder<\/p>\n

Martin McGrew\/NBAE via Getty ImagesThe Updated Scouting Report on Reed Sheppard<\/p>\n

VanVleet\u2019s injury triggered a series of assumptions about Sheppard. For starters, I imagined him cranking \u201cIt\u2019s My Time\u201d by Martina McBride<\/a> in his pickup truck. I\u2019m assuming both that he drives a pickup truck and that he likes Martina McBride, and both of those assumptions feel extremely safe. The news presents an unexpected job opening, and Reed is the implied candidate to step in and straight up assume the mantle. Houston had already made some room in the rotation for him with the Durant deal and now it needs him to shrug off a bumpy rookie year and look more like the player it drafted third after his one thrilling college season.<\/p>\n

Heading into the 2024 draft, Reed\u2019s superhero advanced stat profile had members of the draft community fanning themselves like southern belles. For starters, he was one of the more effective floor-spacing guards that we\u2019d seen in some time in college basketball. He shot over 50 percent from 3 in the pick-and-roll, in transition, and on spot-up looks, on credible volume. He didn\u2019t require much of a load-up into his shot at all, which quelled some of the concern about his size (6-foot-2 and 185 pounds). His balance and posture were terrific, and his arms were mechanically compact. His release was quick, it was replicable, and he had access to it at great range.<\/p>\n

But, sparing the nights when he got into a rhythm, those outlier efficiencies didn\u2019t translate into his rookie season. Sure, you could use excuses to Jedi hand-wave some of that away by circling back to a word in the previous sentence: rhythm. It\u2019s hard to find it when you don\u2019t really get much of a chance to tap your foot to the tempo along with the rest of your teammates\u2014Reed appeared in just 52 games, and he broke 20 minutes of on-court time on only five occasions, two of which were during the \u201cwinding down\u201d phase in April. The counter is that studio space to find said rhythm needs to be earned, especially on teams with real aspirations. And Sheppard\u2019s spot-up efficiency was nearly cut in half after his lone college season, from 1.514 points per possession down to .813.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have a great answer for why that happened\u2014whether it was a mechanical issue that caused so many front-rim misses from the longer NBA line or whether it was a result of the types of looks the stagnant Rocket offense sent his way. Either way, it was odd.<\/p>\n

When he was coming out of his freshman year at Kentucky, my chief concern with the idea of Reed as a primary option was that we hadn\u2019t seen a ton of advantage creation at the point of attack. He\u2019s not particularly fast from a standstill, so his simple side-to-side dribble separation ability had him making a single move without much space to work with. As a result, Reed had a franticness to a lot of his on-ball reps this past year\u2014he was either moving in a linear fashion from A to B or racing to his favorite spots without doing a ton to manipulate or alter how quickly his defender could get to the same place. This would put him in positions where he was more heavily contested, and as a result, his size was an issue. In this sense, he\u2019d be well served by tearing a page out of VanVleet\u2019s book and learning to use contact a bit more so that he can keep his options open once he finds himself on the forest floor looking up at the huge bodies around him.<\/p>\n

The other facet of concern was that even though he\u2019s a fantastic hit-ahead passer in transition, Reed\u2019s skill set popped most when he was catching a pass and routing it to an open teammate rather than breaking down the defense and getting off the ball with a live dribble skip to someone on the weak side. This showed up frequently at Kentucky, and I went back to see whether I\u2019d written about it happening at Summer League in 2024\u2014and yep, I did indeed. Very much so.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lord knows I\u2019ve been wrong before, but a serious shift toward a facilitator role would be an abrupt change from how Reed\u2019s been used in the NBA to this point. I rewatched all of his pick-and-roll reps from the 2024-25 season, and it was hard to find instances when he wasn\u2019t dribbling off a screen and looking to score. His time on the floor was spent either spacing himself absurdly far from the basket or looking for his shot when the ball was in his hands, and justifiably so. But his lack of on-ball playmaking opportunities implies that Houston would be trudging through some potentially messy on-the-job training with him as point guard, and I have a hard time seeing an aspiring contender doing that. My best guess is that we\u2019ll see significantly more Sheppard, but most often in possessions in which he probes for early opportunities to score or, if he can\u2019t, flows into off-ball action that uses his gravity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, all of this neglects the defensive side of the ball, where VanVleet was experienced at the point of attack. Because of his size, Sheppard\u2019s weaknesses were always going to be more glaring at the NBA level. Effort and attentiveness are not an issue for Sheppard\u2014he maps the floor extremely well, his timing and anticipatory instincts as a help defender are strong, and although he had the shortest hand-length measurement in his draft class, if he gets in the cookie jar, more often than not, he\u2019ll come away with it. It\u2019s just that his jumpiness when reacting to fakes and his screen awareness and navigation will have to improve. And that\u2019s not to mention a key detail here: Year in and year out, teams mercilessly and relentlessly hunt smaller players, and while Houston is blessed with one of the better perimeter defensive units (presumably still just as good with the addition of Dorian Finney-Smith to offset the loss of Brooks), a player has to be pretty goddamned good offensively to justify significant protection on the other end of the floor.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Amen Thompson drives to the basket against Stephen Curry<\/p>\n

Getty ImagesPoint Amen<\/p>\n

Amen Thompson probably got more offseason gushing chatter on NBA podcasts than any other player, and deservedly so. He might be the best perimeter athlete to enter the NBA in the past decade, and he\u2019s put his tools to good use as both he and his twin brother, Ausar, have climbed to the top of the league as premier defenders Amen\u2019s development is one of the most intriguing stories in the NBA, and while his role was set to expand regardless, FVV\u2019s injury could be an opportunity for it to explode\u2014but that\u2019s a complicated proposition.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the smoothness of his movement that dulls any initial sense of danger; Amen is reminiscent of Giannis in transition because of how quickly he\u2019s able to thrust defenders into that \u201coh shit, oh shit\u201d frantic backpedal. Aesthetically mesmerizing as his gait may be, the reality is that zero moments of calm are in the cards if he\u2019s pulled the ball off the glass, turned his head, and set his hungry eyes on the rim. He decelerates just as emphatically as he accelerates, he\u2019s balletic in how fluidly he changes directions in the lane with his enormous steps, and we all know about the vertical stuff. I love this play in which it seems like defender Kyshawn George<\/a> has the situation under control\u2014and then you watch Amen\u2019s legs change when he just \u2026 decides \u2026 that he\u2019s going to pierce the paint. You\u2019re either scrambling to avoid getting caught in a compromised position that\u2019ll lead to a foul or attempting to meet him early on to prevent a straight line to the basket (Amen typically sidesteps defenders in these situations like he\u2019s Inspector Gadget with whatever those long, robotic legs are called). It\u2019s especially entertaining when he triggers these transition scenarios purely as a result of his vicious defense\u2014in sequences when he phantom karate kicks an action in the face so fast<\/a> that the offensive player is left wondering what the hell just happened<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all fun, but as we also know, those kinds of transition onslaughts are a feature of a healthy offense, not the sole driving force. What would it look like to organize an offense around Thompson\u2019s skill set?<\/p>\n

Amen\u2019s effective pick-and-roll jaunts have one major thing in common with his successful transition reps: Both get him some momentum away from the basket and set him up to win footraces to the rim. More than three-fourths of those pick-and-roll actions were high ball screens, and he was attacking the basket on the majority of those looks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thompson is so fast that, in the play above, Yves Missi is already screwed because his hips aren\u2019t open yet, which leads to this conclusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Bart Simpson \u201csay the line\u201d caveat is that Amen is still not a threat from 3. He doesn\u2019t take \u2019em \u2019cause he doesn\u2019t make \u2019em. Kudos for avoiding wasteful and ambitious chucking, but this allows competent defenses to do their work early on in terms of squaring up in front of him and conceding a 3- to 4-foot gap once he\u2019s inside the arc so that he\u2019ll either attempt a shot in the paint in a cloud of colliding cartoon limbs or float for his pull-up jumper. It becomes especially tough for Amen when defenses are willing to put four players below the 3-point line to choke out his passing outlets and swipe at him as extra help.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Put in the right situation, he should improve, get stronger as a finisher, and see the game better, but it’s still a pretty fraught formula for an offense with contending aspirations.<\/p>\n

Big picture, there are reasons to believe that plenty of playmaking soap is still in the rag for Thompson. (I don\u2019t think that this is an expression, but go with it.) His havoc on both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor can overshadow the fact that he grew up as a facilitator (always fascinating to watch the roles that twin brothers take on as a result of constantly playing with each other), and he might have developed that understated part of his game because he doesn’t have an obvious mode of half-court scoring beyond catching the ball as a short roller or as a cutter. You\u2019ll occasionally see gap help come in to deter his driving game, which can create simple passing lanes for wing 3s.<\/a><\/p>\n

And most intriguing for me is the fact that Thompson and Sheppard have shown glimpses of chemistry because of the way their skill sets complement each other<\/a>\u2014Sheppard’s pull-up shooting pitching to Thompson’s hellacious driving game and setting up more catch-and-shoot looks from 3.<\/p>\n

Point Guard by Committee<\/p>\n

My ultimate suspicion is that the Rockets will go for more of a Guardians of the Galaxy\u2013style sharing<\/a> of the (offensive) load than a full-fledged replacement of FVV. The hope is that the limitations of each player who\u2019s contributing to the lift won\u2019t cause Houston\u2019s offense to completely disintegrate in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taking it back to Durant for a moment: It seems like a bit of a no-brainer to kick the tires on just how much the first-ballot Hall of Famer\u2014and arguably the greatest scoring forward of all time\u2014is capable of or willing to take on at this stage of his career. I don\u2019t mean to harp on the age part\u2014KD is still amazing\u2014but a player\u2019s usage changes in their mid- to late 30s. Durant will have zero problem serving the purpose that compelled the Rockets to go and get him in the first place\u2014among the 58 players who crossed the 100-possession threshold in isolation last season, Durant was the most efficient of them all\u2014but that was somewhat predicated on VanVleet\u2019s ability to set him up. KD\u2019s rim attempts and free throw attempts have gradually come down in number. He\u2019s still difficult to slow down when he\u2019s ripping to his right and pulling up in the midrange, creating a shot without dribbling or (less frequently) getting to the rim, but that latter aspect could play a role in how much initiating duty he\u2019s able to take on.<\/p>\n

And then, of course, there\u2019s Sengun, still only 23 years old, who in my opinion is the most primed to make a facilitator leap and the safest bet here. He\u2019s fresh off an All-Star season and a banger of a performance for Turkey in EuroBasket, where he functioned in this exact role as an offensive hub. I\u2019d go so far as to say that he was Houston\u2019s best manipulative passer even before the VanVleet injury.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alperen Sengun during a game against the Golden State Warriors<\/p>\n

David Dow\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Durant’s addition and more minutes for Sheppard could also upgrade Houston’s spatial threats and have an effect on the types of help that teams are comfortable throwing at Sengun. In single coverage, he’s an effective enough scorer to force defenses to send other looks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alpy will certainly need to make some progress on how quickly he sees and anticipates that help. He has had a tendency to stick on the ball for a beat too long\u2014but it\u2019s also fair to note that defenders didn’t always respect Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green, perhaps (just speculating here) mirroring Sengun’s own lack of trust in them at times. His teammates converted only 30.1 percent of their looks from 3 when Sengun passed out of hard double-teams.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one positive, forecastable difference between this year\u2019s Rockets group and last year\u2019s, it\u2019s that Durant and Sheppard are not only better shooters off the catch but also better decision-makers when attacking a closeout. The intrigue would mount if Udoka leans into looks with Jabari Smith at the 5. I\u2019m not saying that they should shake the snow globe with constant movement every trip down\u2014KD is a bit long in the tooth for that, and Sheppard\u2019s size would create a teeny bit of leeway for recovering defenders\u2014but it could add some variability to the flow of movement within Houston\u2019s half-court looks, which would be a help to Sengun\u2019s own offense and his opportunities to share.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re shouting that Houston should\u2019ve found a way to sign another ball-moving hybrid guard this offseason even if the FVV injury hadn\u2019t happened, I don\u2019t disagree. It\u2019s possible that the Rockets were unable to, and in this crisis scenario, it seems likely that they\u2014at the deadline\u2014might be forced to. (Derrick White would be nectar from the basketball gods and could help them in every imaginable way. Bill and Zach beat me to it.<\/a>) It\u2019s a loss that hurts, badly, and at a spot where they really, really could not afford it.<\/p>\n

This team is still going to be epically gritty. It\u2019ll still be a major pain in the ass to play. It\u2019ll still Moses Malone people into oblivion with their ability to throw it off the board and go get it. The power of the aggregate will determine whether or not they\u2019ll continue climbing.<\/p>\n

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