The Chicago Bulls’ roster should be the next NBA home for Reed Sheppard

It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls have declared some level of interest in acquiring restricted free agent guard Bennedict Mathurin, presumably in a sign-and-trade deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.  It’s also understandable why the Bulls’ front office might want to roll the dice on the 24-year-old guard with a career scoring average of 16.2 points per game.

However, there’s a better idea the Bulls should consider if they’re intent on acquiring an NBA Draft lottery pick reclamation project. The idea is to acquire Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard.

Why might the Houston Rockets entertain moving on from Reed Sheppard, rather than extending him to his second NBA contract?  Despite a season injury to Rockets starting point guard Fred VanVleet before the start of the Rockets’ 2025-26 NBA season, Sheppard only started 21 regular-season games while appearing in all 82 regular-season games.

Sheppard’s regular-season play apparently didn’t meet a standard to secure the Rockets’ starting point guard on a full-time basis, yet his persistence throughout the regular season earned him the starter nod once the Rockets entered the 2026 NBA Playoffs in their first-round series matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.  

The Rockets’ Reed problem

Unfortunately for Sheppard, the Rockets suffered a first-round exit at the hands of the Lakers in six games, and the series revealed a handful of glaring examples of Sheppard’s youthful inexperience with high-stakes NBA moments, notably committing a huge clutch turnover with less than 22 seconds remaining in game three of the series.

The underlying circumstances behind the turnover didn’t help Sheppard’s optics either, as the guard checked into the game at the start of that possession, which capped the Rockets' surrendering of a six-point game lead when forward Lebron James nailed a transition three-point shot after also forcing the Sheppard turnover. James' game-tying shot sent the game into overtime, resulting in a Rockets loss to the Lakers, 112-108.

The golden opportunity for the Bulls

If there is a motivation for the Rockets to end their Reed-Sheppard era prematurely due to how their 2025-26 season ended, then the Bulls should capitalize on that opportunity, as the franchise is in the early stages of its rebuild.

Despite Sheppard’s game three clutch time gaffe against the Lakers in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the second-year guard was productive in the series, averaging 12.2 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, and 2.2 steals per game. 

This level of production represents an amplified throughline from Sheppard’s 2025-26 NBA regular-season performance, which included 13.2 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game.

Aside from the series-defining turnover Sheppard committed against the Lakers, the most stark shortcoming in Sheppard’s 2026 NBA playoff performance against the Lakers was his three-point shooting, which was anemic with a 29.6% three-point percentage on 9.0 three-point attempts per game in the series.

As bad as Sheppard’s shooting looked from the three-point arc in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, the encouraging factor that should serve as the thesis for the Bulls acquiring Sheppard is his regular-season three-point shooting from the 2025-26 NBA regular season, in which he shot 39.4% on 7.0 three-point attempts per game, in 82 games.

Just get the deal done Bryson

The Bulls could start the trade negotiation conversation with a simple framework of swapping Sheppard for forward Issac Okoro straight up, as both players are due approximately $11 million in salary for the 2026-27 NBA season.  

Okoro is also an expiring contract, which would remove apron calculus, with the Rockets likely entering the 2026-27 NBA season $6 million under the first apron, from the Rockets’ cap sheet considerations when Sheppard becomes extension eligible during the 2027 NBA offseason.  

Overall, it really doesn’t matter who the Bulls offer to acquire Sheppard. Putting aside draft picks, Caleb Wilson, and Matas Buzelis, the Bulls should simply find a way to get this deal done.

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