As the Houston Rockets prepared to enter the new season, their burgeoning, potentially championship-contending roster was thrown for a loop with the news of starting point guard Fred VanVleet's devastating ACL tear in a team mini-camp.
Now, apart from the fact that the team has little backcourt depth to step into VanVleet's role, they are facing another massive problem. No matter his performance, second-year guard Reed Sheppard will need to take on massive minutes as a result of this deficit, and, if he continues to struggle, the team could be left with no other options.
While, on the flip side, we could see Sheppard's perimeter shot hit an elite level now that he has had time to become more comfortable in the league, the thought of what will happen if it doesn't should haunt Rockets fans as we enter the season.