It’s been a mixed bag for Rockets second-year guard Reed Sheppard, but Thursday night, his potential was on full display.

With several key players — Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Clint Capela — sitting out, Reed Sheppard led the B-Team in Atlanta and feasted, hitting 12-22 shots for 29 points, including 5-13 from three-point range. He added 4 steals, 3 blocks, 6 assists and 6 rebounds.

Ben Dubose and I discussed the preseason, Reed’s strong showing, the clock running down on Tari Eason’s extension and the regular season opener this Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

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Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant is on the cover of the upcoming November print issue of Sports Illustrated. That issue is the iconic magazine’s official 2025-26 basketball preview.

Written by NBA writer Chris Mannix, the cover story profiles how trading for the All-Star forward in the 2025 offseason could have the Rockets poised for championship contention. Excerpts were released to ClutchFans for promotional purposes.

“I think other teams valued growing their younger players and draft picks,” Durant says of his offseason trade. “I’m a veteran, [now] 37 years old, with a high price tag. Not a lot of people in the league wanted to make that move to change the franchise and add me to the equation.”

And now that Durant is in Houston, he clearly doesn’t want it to be a short-term move.

Among Durant’s comments to Mannix:

I felt like this team is on the brink of being a consistent playoff team. I wanted to be a part of it.

I’m looking to be here as long as I can, play my last years of my career. That’s the intent. I would love to do that. I mean, I’m 37 years old and I’m going on 19 years in the league. I want to be solidified in a spot and build with a team with a group of guys that’s going to be around for a while. So hopefully this is it.

I’m getting older, but I just feel like I got a lot to look forward to. I feel like I’ve done a lot as well. I’m content, but I want more, as weird as that sounds.

One reason for Durant’s happiness is his relationship with head coach Ime Udoka, who was a top assistant when the future Hall of Famer played for the Brooklyn Nets earlier this decade.

Udoka “is just real and to the point,” Durant told SI’s Mannix. “There’s no sugarcoating.”

Part of that “real” is humility. As Mannix explains, Udoka has already made it clear that he doesn’t want Durant’s teammates to be star-struck, and particularly not impressionable young players such as Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Reed Sheppard.

“Don’t take a backseat to anybody,” Udoka says of his message to other Rockets. “It’s not the Kevin Durant Show because he’s here now. The biggest growth is going to come internally, from our young guys.”

The complete cover story from SI’s Mannix can be read here.

Jabari Smith Jr. really does look different this year.

Jabari showed out Tuesday night as the Rockets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 130-128 to improve to 3-0 in the preseason. The Rockets close out the practice games Thursday against the Hawks before opening the regular season this coming Tuesday against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Jabari looked confident — he was very aggressive Tuesday night, scoring 24 of his 26 points in the first half in less than 20 minutes of play. He hit 4-10 from deep.

Ben Dubose and I discussed the game live in postgame: Jabari’s impressive showing, the big lineup getting the starting nod, Kevin Durant displaying his closer credentials and the skirmish/fight that broke out between Amen Thompson and Jose Alvarado.

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As part of the annual NBA GM survey, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann polls the top decision-makers for each of the league’s 30 teams.

Poll topics include the best teams, players, coaches, and offseason moves, with general managers not allowed to vote for their own team or personnel. Percentages are based on the pool of respondents to that particular question and not necessarily all 30 general managers.

As for the 2025-26 Houston Rockets, one consistent theme was third-year guard Amen Thompson, who featured repeatedly in the GM survey.

Here’s a rundown of where Thompson was represented:

• Player most likely to have a breakout season: Amen Thompson at No. 1 (30%)
• Best perimeter defender in NBA: Amen Thompson at No. 3 (22%)
• Most versatile defender in NBA: Amen Thompson at No. 1 (18%)
• Most athletic player in NBA: Amen Thompson at No. 1 (58%)
• Fastest NBA player with the ball: Amen Thompson received votes

The Rockets did have several other players and coaches receive votes across multiple categories, as can be viewed here. But Thompson was easily the most frequent pick.

As a team, Houston was picked to finish third in the Western Conference behind Oklahoma City and Denver, and the Rockets received at least one vote as the 2026 NBA Finals winner.

The 2025-26 NBA.com GM Survey: www.nba.com/news/2025-26…

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— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann.bsky.social) October 9, 2025 at 7:23 AM

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Kevin Durant is now really a Houston Rocket.

Durant made his Houston Rockets debut on Wednesday as the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 140-127. Durant missed his first three shots, then made his final seven en route to 20 points to lead the Rockets. Amen Thompson finished with 19 points, seven boards and six assists, Jabari Smith Jr. scored 18 on an efficient 7-11 shooting and Alperen Sengun chipped in 13 points with an impressive 13 assists (to just one turnover).

On the ClutchFans YouTube account, Ben Dubose and I discussed the impressive debut of Durant, the offensive explosion, the defensive work-in-progress, Sengun running the point and Jabari Smith Jr’s improvement.