Reed Sheppard NBA Draft Projection: Kentucky Guard Lands With Rockets

Last year’s Kentucky Mr. Basketball is officially off to the NBA after a one-year run in Lexington that netted him national and conference Freshman of the Year honors, with London native Reed Sheppard likely going in the lottery of this year’s NBA Draft.

The 19-year-old guard out of North Laurel High School excelled in his lone season under John Calipari at UK, averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 assists per game to go with a player efficiency rating of 23.6 and 4.5 win shares in 33 games with the team.

Now, Sheppard will take his talents to Houston for coach Ime Udoka after going No. 3 in the NBA Draft to the Rockets.

BetKentucky.com, thinking with our Kentucky sports betting mindset, had broken down some hypothetical odds on which NBA team would wind up picking Sheppard in this year’s NBA Draft, combined with what a handful of basketball experts said about the teenager’s pro destination.

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Reed Sheppard NBA Draft Projection Odds: Landing Spots

Team	Odds	Percentage Chance
Houston Rockets	-115	53.4%
San Antonio Spurs	+350	22.2%
Detroit Pistons	+1000	9.1%
Charlotte Hornets	+1750	5.4%
Portland Trail Blazers	+1750	5.4%
Memphis Grizzlies	+3500	2.8%
The Field	+5000	2.0%

*Final Odds provided before the 2024 NBA Draft

Our final top spot for Sheppard to go in the draft was to the Houston Rockets (at -115), who had the third pick in this year’s NBA Draft lottery and a definite need in the team’s backcourt alongside veterans like Fred VanVleet and upstart talents like Jalen Green.

The Rockets beat out their Lone Star State rivals from San Antonio for Sheppard’s services, as the Spurs were our No. 2 pick to land the former Wildcat this draft cycle, coming in at +350 with the fourth overall pick.

Longshots to draft Sheppard had he dropped below No. 4 in the draft included the Detroit Pistons (+1000), Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers (+1750 each) and the Memphis Grizzlies (+3500).

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Reed Sheppard NBA Mock Draft: Where Did Experts Have Him?

Mock Draft	Team	Pick Number
Kyle Boone, CBS Sports	Houston Rockets	3
Jonathan Wasserman, Bleacher Report	Houston Rockets	3
Tankathon	Houston Rockets	3
Jonathan Givony, ESPN	San Antonio Spurs	4
Kevin O’Connor, The Ringer	Houston Rockets	3
NBA Draft Room	Detroit Pistons	5
Ricky O’Donnell, SBNation	Houston Rockets	3
NBADraft.net	Houston Rockets	3

*updated on June 24th ahead of the Draft

A team of NBA Draft insiders had Sheppard going anywhere from No. 3 to No. 5 in this month’s draft, with Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, Kyle Boone of CBS.com, the team at Tankathon.com, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Ricky O’Donnell of SBNation.com and NBADraft.net giving the former Kentucky star the highest draft slot (to the Rockets at No. 3), while Jonathan Givony of ESPN had him going to the Spurs at No. 4 and NBA Draft Room pinned him at No. 5 to the Pistons.

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Q/As:

After Sheppard officially announced his entry in the 2024 NBA Draft, most mock drafts have him going in the lottery – including our Top 8 mock drafts above and the current odds.

Yes. On April 18th, the Kentucky freshman guard Reed Sheppard decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the 2024 NBA Draft. “I’m going all-in,” Sheppard said, as he prepares to go in the lottery of the 1st round.

According to the official Kentucky athletics website, the freshman guard out of London, KY comes in at a height of 6’3”.

Sheppard attended North Laurel High School in London, KY where he grew up and was named Kentucky Mr. Basketball after averaging 22.5 points, 8.5 assists and 8.4 rebounds per game as a senior.

Yes. Reed Sheppard’s father, Jeff Sheppard, is a former Kentucky college basketball player and was the Most Outstanding Player for the 1998 NCAA Tournament. He later played for the Atlanta Hawks during his time in the NBA.

Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetKentucky.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.