The Indiana Pacers were expecting to get some solid play from their rookie. They just thought that it was going to be Jarace Walker, whom they drafted in the lottery. Never in their wildest dreams did they think that they would get real playoff minutes from Ben Sheppard.
Sheppard was drafted late in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft. Out of Belmont, he came into the league as a four-year college player. That meant he'd played a lot of basketball before coming to Indiana. The Pacers were hoping to get some minutes out of him.
Man, did he deliver. Sheppard ended up getting the minutes that many thought would go to Walker. He played in 57 games as a rookie, really becoming part of the rotation in the middle of the year. He got playing time because of how good of a defender he is.
Ben Sheppard has done enough defensively to be a part of the Pacers' future
Sheppard averaged just over 14 minutes a game. In that time, he had 4.4 points per game. He also shot just 31% from deep. So why was he so valuable? Because he made a lot more threes after the All-Star break. He started getting more confident with his shot and he showed that in the playoffs.
Despite a terrible Eastern Conference Finals, he still shot 38% from three while getting almost 20 minutes per game off the bench. He's someone who can hit an open three if you leave him, which is something that's very valuable. Sheppard is a three-and-D guy.
Sheppard is already one of the Pacers' best defenders. He just has to expand his offensive game a bit to be truly dangerous. There were a few times that he actually tried driving to the basket. He needs to do that a bit more often in year two. Perhaps he will now that he has confidence that he can play in this league.
The team was better off with him on the court. The Pacers had a net rating +3 in the regular season and +7.4 in the playoffs. Once he starts hitting that corner three with a bit more consistency, he's going to be hard to take off the court. He has a shot to be a starter someday.
Sheppard was a steal at the Draft. He's now going to get more chances to prove it next year.