Former Kentucky guard and likely lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Reed Sheppard been extended an invitation to the green room for the draft, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. If accepted, Sheppard and his family can be on hand in person when he hears his name called.
Sheppard, a 6-foot-3 guard, is currently ranked as ESPN’s No. 4 overall prospect and is likely to be taken in the Top 10. On3’s James Fletcher projects him as the No. 3 overall pick to the Houston Rockets.
Sheppard was a McDonald’s All-American as a recruit and quickly emerged as a star for Kentucky during his freshman season on a team chock full of talent. In 33 games in college, he averaged 12.5 points per game and more than four rebounds and assists.
Sheppard recently shared who he models his game after
During an interview with NBA insider Shams Charania, Sheppard revealed which NBA players he models his game after.
“Chris Paul is one of those guys,” Sheppard said. “I look at him because of how he can control the game, how he can get his teammates involved, how he comes off pick and rolls and he’s never sped up. He’s just gonna play his style, his pace.
“You look at guys like Devin Booker and how they get to their mid-range game. He’s really good at getting to a spot and just elevating over you and knocking down a shot. Then, you look at Steph Curry. How he moves without the ball. He’ll throw the ball and he’ll run a ridiculous amount just to get an open 3 and catch it real quick and get his feet down and shoot it.”
Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 steals and a team-high 4.5 assists per game during the 2023-24 season. Further, the Bluegrass native shot 53.6% from the floor and 51.1% from downtown, the most accurate single-season 3-point percentage in program history.
While Sheppard wowed NBA scouts with his perimeter skills, he also showed off his will to win. In Kentucky’s 91-89 win over Mississippi State, Sheppard erupted for a career-high 32 points and drained a gutsy game-winning floater.
Sheppard claims that side of his game comes from watching Kobe Bryant.
“You look at someone like Kobe — just his mentality,” Sheppard said. “No one was going to stop him. No one was going to beat him. He was better than everyone. He thought that no matter what you did, he was going to be able to do it better. He was going to win. You weren’t gonna beat him.
“So just taking things from different players and just watching their game and learning — that’s just a couple. You can watch everyone in the league and take something from their game that they’re really good at and try to put it into your game.”
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