Refused to sign the defender! If you can t play, you ll trade. The Rockets show off Shepard, Stone realizes the reality

The Rockets this offseason are a big winner. Let's see what Stone has done mainly. They traded chips such as Jaylen Green and Dillon to get Durant from the Suns. They renewed Jabary Smith for $122 million in five years, renewed Adams for $39 million in three years, renewed Van Vritte for $50 million in two years, won the cake king Capela for $21.5 million in three years, sent Whitmore to the Wizards, exchanged for two second round picks, and signed Okogi for $3.1 million in one year. There are so many people who can play now. It is no exaggeration to describe it as a strong soldier. Uduka can even line up three sets of lineups.

The starting lineup is likely to be Van Vritte + Amen Thompson + Durant + Jabarri Smith + Shinkin. The offense and defense are balanced. If you have to say the shortcomings, it may be Van Vritte. Last season, Van Jordan often made trouble. The more he shot, the more he had to shoot, which led to other teammates not having much ball rights. Now with Durant's joining, the Rockets are no shortage of scorers, so what Van Jordan needs to do in the new season is to reduce the number of shots and organize and defend well. In addition, the Rockets' substitute lineup is strong, with major players such as Ethan, Shepard, Adams, Capela, Finney Smith, Okogie, Jeff Green, Holiday and Tate, and in terms of the top level of the deep Rockets.

The Rockets were ranked second in the West last season. It can be imagined that they are likely to be ranked second next year. They should have the opportunity to compete with the Thunder for the top spot. The three strongest teams in the West in the new season are the Thunder, the Rockets and the Nuggets. Originally, the Rockets had seven young masters, but now Jaylen Green and Whitmore are gone. The former is because of poor stability. The upper limit is probably All-Star, which cannot reach the height of a superstar. The latter is also unpredictable and sometimes playing too recklessly. So, who will the Rockets be inspected next? The answer is Shepard. According to the latest reports, the Rockets hope that Shepard can prove himself in the new season and must show obvious progress.

25-26 season will be Shepard's last chance. If he still can't play, he may be abandoned by the Rockets next year. It should be said that this statement makes sense. The Rockets' focus on strengthening this offseason is the forward line, but the defender has not signed anyone, so the management chooses to continue to believe Shepard. Van Vreet is the starting defender in the new season, Shepard is the first substitute, Holiday has to stand backwards. In other words, Shepard's appearance time in the new season will definitely increase significantly, and he can enter a fixed rotation, but accordingly, this will also be Shepard's pressure. After Jaylen Green leaves the team, Shepard needs to make up for the Rockets' shooting ability.

It can be seen that Stone has recognized the reality. If the young man can't make it, then trade it quickly. It's better to change to a veteran superstar. This is why Durant joined. In fact, Shepard was very optimistic when he first entered the league. He was the Tanhua Show. He shone in the summer league last year and was hailed as the strongest rookie in the same class. However, Shepard had no chance to perform last season, averaging only 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, with a voting shooting percentage of 35%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 33%. Don’t blame Uduka for not using him. After all, the Rockets’ goal is to playoffs and cannot give new players enough time to play like a bottom team. However, Shepard’s chance has come in the new season.

From the perspective of playing style, Shepard has outstanding shooting ability and his organizational ability is also top-notch, very much like a combination of Nash and Curry. Shepard was not completely without highlights last season. For example, against the Clippers, Shepard scored 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, and 6 of 10 three-pointers. For example, against the Jazz, Shepard's data was 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and all scored from three-pointers (5 of 7 shots), and against the Thunder, Shepard even scored 25 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Perhaps it was not because of his poor stability, but because he really had too few opportunities to play, which made Shepard unable to maintain an efficient shooting percentage.

If Shepard averages 20 minutes of playing time, I believe he can bring enough surprises to the Rockets. Another thing that must be mentioned is that Shepard conducted weight gain training off season. The Rockets official posted his photos before, which is much stronger than last season. In this way, Shepard in the new season is worth looking forward to. In theory, he can play, so his role cannot be replaced by the Rockets' young people. In addition to Shepard, Amen Thompson and Ethan are both Rockets' treasures. Jabbarri and Shin Kyung's situation is similar to Shepard's, and their positions are not very stable. If the Rockets still cannot break through the first round next year, then Stone may still have to trade young people.