Unlucky, the Rockets hold the No. 1 pick but are in a poor draft year. The No. 4 pick in the 25th class is the ideal model.

In the NBA draft, players with excellent physical fitness and high growth potential have always been favored by various teams, especially players in the reconstruction process, who all hope to get a cornerstone of the team through the draft. However, in many teams that already have core players, a perfect second-in-command is more suitable for the team.

In the 2024 draft, the Rockets also encountered such a situation. At that time, the team already had a number of young talents such as Jaylen Green, Shen Jing, Amen, and Xiao Jia. The team needed a newcomer with outstanding shooting ability who did not occupy the team's ball rights to supplement the lineup. Based on the Rockets' lineup structure at the time, the newcomer who was actually more suitable for them was Knecter, who was selected by the Lakers with the 17th overall pick. However, the Rockets, holding the third overall pick, would be somewhat unwilling to choose this senior player who no longer had much potential.

In the end, the Rockets chose Sheppard, a freshman from the University of Kentucky, with the third pick. This 1.91-meter-tall young man shot an astonishing 52.1% from three-pointers in his freshman season. Therefore, the management is also very much looking forward to the 19-year-old youngster being able to use his precise shooting skills to improve the Rockets' outside firepower.

However, after one season, people discovered that Shepard's shooting ability on the offensive end was indeed good, but his defensive ability was not enough to support his stay on the court. In the regular season, as long as Shepard was on the court, all opponents' players used him as a "cash machine", causing the Rockets' defensive intensity to drop instantly.

Now that a season has passed, this situation has not changed much. When the Rockets played against the Thunder in the first game, Dort, Alexander, Caruso and many other players still attacked Shepard, the defensive weak link, which ultimately caused the Rockets to lose the first game of the new season.

After today's game between the Hornets and the Nets, many people may be very envious of the Hornets' choice of newcomer Kang Knupel this year. He is also a freshman and a white shooter, but he can play a completely different role on the court.

As a rookie selected by the Hornets with the fourth overall pick in the first round this year, Knuupel showed no nervousness at all in his first NBA regular season game. He played 25 minutes in the game and made 4 of 6 shots and 3 of 4 from beyond the three-point line. He efficiently scored 11 points and 5 rebounds.

As a 2.01-meter swingman, Knuupel's duty on the field is very simple, that is, to provide solid defense and reliable outside support. On the defensive end, Knuupel does not like to get the ball out of the way like Sheppard. He uses his body advantage to cover the opponent and constantly moves to block the opponent's offensive line. Although this defensive method does not produce many steals, the overall effect is much better.

At the same time, on the offensive end, Knupper has never regarded himself as an offensive starting point. He is always able to make very decisive offensive choices after getting the ball from the outside, which makes his offensive efficiency much better than Shepard. Just from the characteristics and enthusiasm he showed in his first game, people have reason to believe that before the draft, many people compared him to the next Klay Thompson.

As for the Rockets' selection of Shepard, perhaps they can only blame themselves for their bad luck. They encountered the worst overall rookie class in the past 10 years. Not only the Rockets, but perhaps all the players drafted in 2024, none of them can become an All-Star player in the future, and there are only a few players who can even sit firmly in the starting lineup.

For example, the Hawks' No. 1 pick Rissa Shee is still doing dirty work in the team. The team completely uses him as a role player, averaging only 20 points per game. The Wizards' No. 2 pick, Sal, is still working as a blue-collar insider. Looking back at the 25-year-old rookie player, the third overall pick VJ Edgecombe scored 34 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the first game, which is really different.

So when the Rockets selected Shepard with the No. 3 pick last year, they can only lament that they were not able to meet a big draft year. If they can meet this year, whether it is a high-quality shooter like Con Knuppel or a top-level shooting guard like VJ Edgecombe, maybe the team's upper limit will be raised to a higher level in the future!