Longtime backup shooting guard Reed Shappard  is joining the Wildcats on a one-year deal, according to NCAA…

UK — Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft, was one of the best players on the court Friday night in his first Summer League game. The former Kentucky guard stole the show against Bronny James and the Lakers, finishing with 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and three blocks in the Rockets’ 99-80 win. That performance was a strong statement that Sheppard could be one of the best players in the draft class.

“It was a really fun game and great atmosphere,” Sheppard said Friday night. “We had a really good week of practice, and at first, it’s just getting into rhythm, shaking off the nerves, but as the game went on, I got more comfortable.”

Sheppard’s second game Sunday was just as impressive as his first. The Rockets squared off against the Wizards, featuring No. 2 pick Alex Sarr and No. 14 pick Bub Carrington. Carrington nearly had a triple-double in his first outing, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Sunday’s game was billed as a solid guard matchup, and both Sheppard and Carrington went to work early. Carrington had a bit of a streaky shooting night, but still finished with 18 points and five assists in the 109-91 loss. Sheppard finished with another killer stat line and looked like a seasoned player, finishing with 22 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals.

Summer league can be a tease, but never let them tell you it doesn’t matter at all. Hidden in all this noise, there is indeed some signal.

Take last year, for instance. Sam Merrill showed up barely hanging onto a non-guaranteed roster spot in Cleveland and emerged as one of the best players in Vegas while leading the Cavaliers to the title game. That helped him cement a spot on the Cavs, which eventually became a back-end rotation spot, which turned into him playing 27 minutes in a second-round elimination game against the Boston Celtics. Suffice to say he didn’t need to play summer league this year.

Fresh off the plane, right off the bat, I got to the hotel and was starstruck. Nemanja Bjelica was in the queue to check in. Sidy Cissoko was looking at his phone next to one of the in-house restaurants. Known gourmand, Death Cab for Cutie scholar, and open-denim-shirt enthusiast Rob Mahoney later told me that I am a sicko for recognizing Sidy. I told him it’s my business to know, and that I’m already feeling at home because summer league is the place where the sickos come to congregate. It’s the place where a Blake Hinson and Quincy Olivari heat-check duel breaks out. It’s the place where Miles Bridges can be seen roaming a casino floor in a jester hat (this really happened). It’s the place where a grown man can pump his fist in a Matt Maloney jersey and chino shorts … and the place where someone else will excitedly take a picture of him.

For those who’ve never been, there are two gyms at Las Vegas summer league: Cox Pavilion, which is smaller, and the Thomas & Mack Center, which is where UNLV plays. This place has some history. Team USA has held its tune-up games there for more than a decade. Kobe’s legendary hanging cross flambé of Antonio Daniels and posterization of Ben Wallace happened in this gym back in 1997. For this third-annual Vegas summer league diary, I again bounced between these two gyms and wrote about what I saw with my own two eyes, boots on the ground. I also promised myself I wouldn’t eat the chicken tenders at the arena this year. On to the action.