On paper, Ben Sheppard had a terrible game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. He missed all of his shots, had zero assists, and only three rebounds across 19 minutes despite starting in place of Aaron Nesmith.
If Sheppard wants to make the Indiana Pacers' rotation, he just gave his detractors the type of game that would be the primary argument to keep him out of it.
Or will it?
Sheppard's shot-making has never been the appeal of the wing out of Belmont. Instead, it has been his effort and his connective defensive abilities. Hitting shots is obviously a necessary skill that he still needs to build, but he can still be impactful without it.
In that way, that game against the Thunder was an excellent refresher course in how useful Sheppard already is.
Value comes in many forms
When Ben Sheppard was taken with the 26th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, the Pacers hoped that he could become a bench contributor or even a fringe starter-level player as a three-and-D wing.
So far in his career, Sheppard has found it hard to find consistent enough playing time to show much of anything. He is stuck behind players who are straight up better than him and those who carry more cachet with the current front office than Ben does.
Maybe last year's vacated minutes should have been the opportunity that he needed, but it's hard to be a player who already needs someone to set you up and then to be asked to take more shots that are more difficult when you don't even have the easy stuff nailed down.
That's what happened to Ben. He was stuck shooting more on a bad team. If you can't make easy corner threes, how are you going to nail above-the-break triples without even getting the chance to set your feet?
This is the role that Sheppard was asked to fill as a one-to-one replacement for someone like Aaron Nesmith.
There's no reason he should be asked to do that again.
What Sheppard brings instead is a specialist role as a defensive stalwart who is brought in only on a few possessions per game to shut down a guard or smaller forward in isolation. That is something that the Pacers will need in the playoffs and something they have not had.
Anyone looking at Sheppard as anything more than a lottery ticket and a situational break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option is failing to understand what about depth is important.
It's not just having players who can play, but having players who know what they need to do whenever they see the court. Shepherd was a +7 yesterday, the second-highest on the team. There is value in what he does, and his outlook means that he will always be at his best.
Whether he's making shots or not.
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