Reed Sheppard joins the Houston Rockets looking to crack a rotation with roughly a dozen plausible candidates for playing time.
Why is the incoming rookie with 33 collegiate games under his belt ready to contribute at the NBA level as early as this fall? Look to Sheppard's basketball lineage for a dose of optimism.
The 20-year-old is the lone member of the Sheppard family to be selected in the NBA draft, but last month's No. 3 pick still doesn't sport the best basketball resume in his family to date. Sheppard's father, Jeff, was a two-time NCAA champion at Kentucky and the Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 Final Four.