lol at bringing up Magic Johnson and his bad 3 point shooting…he played in an era where the 3 pointer didn’t matter at all and Magic could at least hit free throws at a good clip people just saying anything on here
Many folks are focused on our need for shooting. I don't think its so much that people are against him, more that he doesn't bring what we need most. If we had a good lot of shooters already, then the fit would be better. Maybe Ime can make a team of mediocre/bad shooters into good ones? Better looks? Sounds easy.
If we draft Amen we have to invest in a top notch world renowned shot doctor. That would have to be a priority. I've gone back snd forth on this kid for over a year. May have the highest ceiling after Wemby but the lowest floor. He would be a risk for sure, but the rewards if he can ever get to 30% or better would be immense. Now I'm stuck between Amen, Hendricks and Whitmore. Whitmore's height and short arms are concerning. I think it comes down Amen or Hendricks. Hendricks, Bari and Tari could be a solid forward rotation. Add Lively as a back up 5 and our front line defense would be legit in the next couple of years. Amen is boom or bust. Geez. This isn't easy this year.
I think the Rockets need 2 shooters. One in the starting lineup and one off the bench; Cam Johnson and Seth Curry and a center with length, Jaxson Hayes. That's just me. I think a lot of the pieces we already have, better coaching will rectify a lot of those problems. Udoka has said that he wants to run the offense through Sengun and free up KPJ to shoot more. If they were to sign those players and draft Amen, I could see a lineup of G - KPJ/Amen G - Green/Seth Curry F- Cam/KJM F- Jabari/Tari C - Sengun/Jaxson Hayes Tate, TyTy, Garuba, JC, battling for PT
I understand the concern for fit but I think the Rockets need someone with superstar upside as you much as anything else. IMO the Rockets are too young and too bad to be drafting for fit. If they think Amen has the most superstar potential taking him isn't a bad idea. (Assuming that superstar potential isn't very incredibly unlikely to them)
Amen is a PROBLEM! Just the first few plays shows his ability. The dunk, the steal and the rebound!! The shot can be fixed
@OremLK Just realized Amen was too scared to participate in Draft Combine drills. Let's stop saying he is top 3% athletic in the NBA if he doesn't even have the guts to get tested officially. Dude playing in kiddie league is too afraid to do drills and get official results to prove his supposed generational athleticism? Nah. Theere's just no proof he is top tier material other than the eye test which you know is biased AF. Did the twins even do scrimmages to prove they can hang with guys their age? lol
This is the norm for consensus top 5 lottery picks. It's not the criticism you think it is. Scoot didn't do the drills either, neither did Brandon Miller or a bunch of other guys. Prospects normally follow the advice of their agents, and when you're a consensus top 5 pick, your agent is going to be telling you not to risk it because there's very little to gain by participating when you're already a lock that high in the draft. Anyway, at this point it's very clear you're set in your opinion and are determined to find every reason to justify it, and I'm pretty set in my views now too, so I think there's little point in us continuing to argue. Agree to disagree and hope for the best for whoever the Rockets pick, yeah?
Scoot and Brandon Miller aren't getting hyped as "top 3% athleticism in the NBA" before getting to the NBA, Scoot is just being called an athletic beast and BM is actually getting called unathletic. I know I've been critical of Amen but that's due to all the hype calling him the greatest thing ever before he even goes to the NBA. This draft is supposed to give credence to all that hype but instead of showing out he was scared. I just think if he was as good as everyone is saying he was he would have proved it in the combine given the league he played in is a total joke. The league mandated everyone gets measured and I mean if he's already there why doesn't he take the other tests too? It's a chance for him to compete with Brandon Miller and Scoot for the no 2 spot instead of being in that 2nd/3rd tier. If he really wanted smoke he'd show out instead of hide behind his agent's advice. You are painting Amen as this dude who is lacking a shot but has all the intangibles you'd need from a franchise player with the work ethic, ambition to match but none of his actions display that. Dude had 2 years to work on his shot it still sucks ass so where's all that work ethic? He supposed to be insane on defense but in OTE he was caught ball watching multiple times, its his bro shutting people down not him. Supposed to be an insane competitor but too scared to go do drills and prove his generational athleticism and also didn't participate in the scrimmage. Did I mention he is 20 but seems behind in development to his younger peers? lol. But overall you are right we are both set in our ways so I guess we'll see what happens. To b be honest though I'm 80% sure we're taking Amen so I'd def hoping you are right and I'm wrong.
I agree that I would have liked to see them tell their agent no and do the drills, play in the scrimmages, etc. Would've enjoyed the competitive fire. I don't view it as a negative that they followed their agent's advice, since that just appears to be what everyone in their position does (even ultra-competitive personalities like Scoot), but I would have loved to see it.
You can't have traditional centers if your pg is a non shooter like Amen. Look at Simmons on the Nets and they had Seth Curry, KD and Irving. Opponents just gonna box and 1 and prevent pg from penetrating and make scoring inside extremely difficult.
That's a good point. One of the reasons I hope Alpi is working hard on his shot this offseason. I also think Brook Lopez would be a perfect fit on this team just in general (but especially if they do pick Amen)
Using Ben Simmons as a Amen Thompson comp imo is terrible. Ben Simmons issue was much more than he couldn't shoot. But also that he wouldn't shoot ANYWHERE on the court. He won't shoot mid rangers either and he won't take layups in fear of being fouled. The best comp I've seen for Thompson was Westbrook. Also never had a good 3pter even in his prime but will shoot some jumpers and will destroy people in the paint. And he played fine with traditional bigs. Not as well as with stretch bigs, but thats true of any player even Harden who did have a deadly 3. Amen does need to improve his shooting, but I think he needs to just improve to passable outside shot which is much more feasible to attain.
Westbrook shot 35% in college being guarded by peers or older young men. Amen Thompson shot 25% in OTE being guarded by teenagers. You need to discount Amen's numbers even more cuz his opponents are much younger and less athletic than him. In the NBA he won't be open that much and he'll have a much harder time getting his shot off. Simmons didn't start out scared to shoot, it was his inability to make those shots that gradually made him afraid of shooting. Amen will run into the same problem because unlike Ausar his shot %s are beyond horrible (25% from 3, 68% ft) despite being 20 and having two years and supposedly legendary work ethic. People here keep saying Amen but I think you guys really want Ausar. Ausar has a chance of being a decent shooter in time. Amen will most likely be a 28% 3 pt shooter similar to Giannis. Giannis plays the PF so even if he is a bad shooter that's fine. Amen will play in the perimeter and having a broke shot will make it harder for everyone else unless you get a spacing C and then you can invert positions.
I'm not sure why you automatically dismiss Westbrook comp but keep bringing up Ben Simmons (and used Nets Ben Simmons in that other post no less) like that's somehow more pertinent. Simmons NEVER shot 3s. Not in college not in his rookie year not any time after that. If you want to say Amen is not Westbrook level shooter coming out I can give you that. No player comp is perfect and Westbrook is the closest I personally see. But if Westbrook comp isn't perfect then Ben Simmons comp isn't even in the same continent.
yeah, there is not much separation after Wembayama. Many intriguing but flawed prospects. To yours I’d add Black, Dick, Cason W., Jarace W., and Ausar. I don’t see clear favorite among these eight. (I assume you meant Lively with #20).
