I think in the short term, it depends somewhat on how much Sengun improves as a shooting threat this offseason. Sengun's passing will pair well with Amen's elite ability to cut to the basket, but when Amen is the ballhandler, Sengun will need to be able to space the floor or things will get too clogged up
He shot 77% from the FT line in the OTE playoffs. Only a 30 shot sample size, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
They've basically worked to completely re-do both his and Ausar's mechanics at OTE. Their biggest problem is that they weren't great shooters coming out of high school from what I recall, and then you ask them to go from high school 3 to the NBA 3 while completely breaking down and remaking their shot. I'm guessing that could be why they still suck. Of course, they could just be forever bad shooters, too, so I'm not sure. I look at Jalen's shot mechanics and he looks crippled shooting the ball sometimes, and that's after they've spent a couple of years with him shooting the ball and trying to fix it.
People complaining about getting a real PG for years, now people upset when two fall in our lap (Amen and Harden)
Dig a little deeper still: Per 40 minutes counting stats for Amen Thompson: 23.8 points 8.6 assists 8.6 rebounds 3.4 steals Per 40 minutes counting stats for Ja Morant as a sophomore in college: 26.8 points 11.0 assists 6.2 rebounds 1.9 steals And remember, Ja was THE guy at Murray State. He had the ball in his hands virtually every time up. Amen was splitting those duties with his brother who averaged similar counting stats to Amen's.
.....and maybe remember that Amen was playing in a glorified rec league. The guy is a bust waiting to happen.
I don't know anything about these prospects so my question is if Amen is a workhorse that will absolutely work on improving the short comings in his game. Has his shot improved at all? Don't need a player that carries a "potential" label but doesn't do squat about working on his game when he needs to. In this league, you need to be able to be a good shooter, otherwise you just won't cut it and defenses will just adjust to allowing to get whatever shot you want and not give space to your teammates. Do not want if he is not known to work.
Man I wonder if we are even watching the same player our evaluations of Amen / Asar are so different. His shot is broken. Uglier than Chuck Hayes shooting FT's. He might fix it .... but this league is littered with draft busts who were great athletes who couldn't shoot. Then there's the handles - they are sloppy. Yep, he's a tall guard who can jump out of the gym and makes some good passes .... Think about how far Westbrook has fallen - from league MVP to almost unplayable because of that shooting and that's a dude that averages 10 assists and 10 boards a game. I want to believe .... but the highlights just don't convince me when I watch the workout video's with Miller and his form is just terrible, that left hand moving so erratically at the top of the shot. I get it, IF he gets his shot working he's got potential to be a top 10 player .... IF. If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass when he hops.
Yes. There are a lot of articles out there about this. https://www.si.com/nba/2022/03/07/overtime-elite-thompson-twins-daily-cover https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37570826/thompson-twins-amen-ausar-ready-introduce-nba The reputation is that the Thompson twins are coachable hard workers who are obsessed with basketball and want to be great.
That's cleaner? Oof... Seriously, though I agree with some earlier posters you take him because of the upside.
Check out the short video posted on the last page of Amen shooting at the Combine. He looks much, much better than that 10 month old Mike Miller workout.
I saw that video too, he was making shots and it doesn't look as bad as it did in the Miller video ..... but he's still a very long way from being an NBA shooter. The left hand still comes off awkwardly and he seems to load up on the catch and shoot - bringing the ball down before it goes up. We can call it improved .... but I hope someone takes him ahead of #4 to save us the trouble and we get one of Henderson or Miller.
I have him above Miller personally--partly a function of being sold on Amen's combo of intangibles, basketball IQ, and physical tools, partly because I'm a bit lower on Miller than consensus and simply do not see superstar upside with him at all. But yeah, maybe it's not impossible we could get Scoot. Both Charlotte and Portland in theory already have their point guard. Maybe one of them makes a trade with us. Maybe one of them is ridiculously high on, IDK, Cam Whitmore, or yeah, takes Amen to be more of a playmaking wing. Still a lot that can happen.
Yes, I know. Just pointing out that the tweet above is a bit of a deceptive comparison due to usage. I don't think Amen Thompson is as good of a prospect as Ja Morant was, to be clear. I have him a tier below that level. Scoot Henderson is in that Ja Morant tier for me though.
