From Sam Vecenie’s just released draft guide… 05. Amen Thompson G | Overtime Elite | Birthdate: Jan. 30, 2003 (Age: 20) | 6-6 | 215 LBS | Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. BACKGROUND Twin brother of fellow 2023 prospect Ausar Thompson. Parents are Maya and Troy. Troy played basketball when he was younger. Thompson also has an older brother, Troy Jr., who was a multi-year starter at Prairie View A&M. They also have an uncle, Mark, who was a 400-meter hurdle competitor for Jamaica at the 1992 Olympics. The family is originally from Oakland, Calif., which is where the twins grew up. Troy Sr. took a very active role in developing them as basketball players from an early age, and they focused on the sport prior to reaching their teens. Amen is more the point guard, whereas Ausar is more the true wing. They developed clear talent and were offered scholarships to play at Pine Crest School, a strong academic high school in Florida that would also give them the opportunity to compete against better competition. The twins were terrific in their years at Pine Crest, growing to 6-foot-7 with shoes and leading the school to a 4A division state title. The twins were looking to up their level of com- petition to the prep school level and had decided to transfer before they were offered deals from Overtime Elite, a start-up league for high school prospects who wanted to get paid to play. The twins signed with OTE and had a terrific first season as they nar- rowed their focus even further onto basketball. Amen made first-team All-OTE this past season and teamed up with Ausar to win the OTE title in each of the last two seasons. They will be the first players drafted from Overtime Elite. They’re high-character, very intelligent and well-regarded as workers. STRENGTHS Amen is the elite of the elite athletically. Will enter the NBA as one of the five most explosive, twitchiest players in the league. Has elite leaping ability. Explodes off the ground like he’s on a trampoline and has real reactivity. First step is terrific. Has great open court speed that allows him to beat other players down the floor. Really plays well in transition and drives play out on the break with his ability to rebound and push. Quickens the tempo of the game through his sheer presence. Superb body control and balance. Has the rare ability to be explosive, yet also hang in the air and look like he’s floating, like a Zach LaVine. Has all the tools there. Also has a great frame for a guard at 6-foot-6 without shoes, a 7-foot wingspan, and an 8-foot-7 1/2 standing reach. His motor generally runs hot too. Can be relied upon to play hard consistently. Thompson’s best skill is his passing. Head is always up looking for teammates as soon as he gets the ball. He’s an elite playmaker off the dribble and maintains that ability to play fast with the ball in his hands. Terrific live-dribble passer and has a case as the best in this class. Awesome at drawing scrambling defenders toward him in transition with his aggressive willingness to push tempo. Throws some wild ones out of ball screens that are highly impressive. Hits one-handed cross-corner skip passes with either hand regularly. Throws wraparounds to rollers and finds little seams through which to throw difficult passes. You can see his eyes regularly reading weakside and help defenders and manipulating them, which is a great sign at such a young age. He looks both in toward the rim and out toward the 3-point line. Can patiently wait for the defender to vacate the area before hitting the read. Very versatile passer who throws almost everything on a line. Can put real velocity on the ball from crazy angles, which is a difficult thing to do for many playmakers. Has an incredible array of different passes that he can execute. Unsurprisingly, Thompson also creates a ton of pressure on the rim. His Overtime Elite team drew up a lot of interesting sets for him to showcase his intelligence as an off-ball cutter, timing his runs to the rim well and finishing with high-level lobs. But he can also get the basket when acting as an on-ball creator. If you get him in space, he can get his man off-balance with a lightning quick crossover combination that allows him to get back to his right hand and get downhill quickly. Once he’s downhill, he uses his stride length exceedingly well to get all the way to the rim. Good footwork to slither and snake his way around defenders. Once he’s there, he gets fouled a ton because of how tough it is for guys to maintain their position against his athleticism. Teams will run a ton of very high ball screens to get him in space and allow him to attack. It’s going to be hard to stay in front of him. He goes from slow to fast well with hesitation moves because of how quickly he accelerates. Has a rare pace at which he plays due to his explosive steps and stride length, as well as his galloping style with hops and skips while also keeping the play alive with his handle. Finishes well at the rim. Makes a high percentage of shots at OTE, not just because of how above the rim he is but also because of his creativity. Made about 74 percent of his shots at the rim in total but also made a strong 59.2 percent in half-court settings in 25 games tracked this past season, per Synergy. There are some minor flaws we’ll talk about, but he projects to be a high-level finisher. Has strong little Euro step moves, and his stride length with his explosiveness helps him get all the way to the basket. Makes them from a variety of angles and with a variety of different little flourishes such as off finger rolls and mini-hook shots. Because of his hang time, he can really change the angle on rim protectors midair and force them into awkward positions. That results in fouls or contests that end up not really impacting him. Thompson is also a terrific defensive playmaker. Has a chance to be an All-Defense guy purely due to athleticism, effort and anticipation if he can clean up the flaws. As an on-ball defender, he plays extremely tight to his man and is disruptive, albeit high and upright, which we’ll talk about later. He always plays hard and at 100 miles per hour on this end. He slows teams down when trying to initiate sets. Can pressure full court but can also switch and play on bigger players because of his height and aggressiveness. Will occasionally get moved because he’s not overly strong right now, but his willingness to fight and battle allows him to be impactful. Moreover, he’s a turnover-forcing machine. Constantly poking and trying to force steals. Aggressively gets his hands into dangerous spots. Unsurprisingly, he’s also effective as an off-ball defender because of this – even if he’s a significant gambler. Forces aggressive, havoc-inducing decisions for the offense. Will just rip the ball away from offensive players on digs or will attack a passing lane and get home often with his strong anticipation. Can’t throw any lazy passes cross-court when he’s on the weak side. One of the best shot-blocking guards I’ve evaluated. A constant threat from the weak side as a rotational rim defender because of his athleticism. He’s one of those defenders whose presence you have to constantly be aware of. And because he’s so athletic and such a force in transition, he uses all of these skills to turn defense into offense at a high level. It’s not all positive on defense, but he has tremendous upside.
WEAKNESSES The critical question here is shooting. Amen has not had a ton of success in that regard thus far. Per Synergy, he’s made just 28.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s this past season. I don’t really like anything mechanically either. He’s rarely ready and prepped off the catch to fire, if only because, for the most part, he wants to attack off the bounce more often. Shooting is a second decision for him. Really brings his momentum forward on the shot as opposed to being straight up and down. It’s also just not fluid in any way. Very stiff. For an athlete who is the opposite of box-y and square toward the rim, the jumper is completely squared up in his lower half. Additionally, I don’t love the fact that he shoots it from in front of his face. He has kind of a low release point but then a high finish. Follow-through often falls away toward the right side. Unsurprisingly given all these mechanical issues, there isn’t any consistency in terms of his misses or the arc (sometimes it’s flat, sometimes it’s very high). All these issues exist when he’s taking pull-ups. Made just 28.6 percent of his pull-up jumpers this past season, per Synergy. I think his rhythm is a bit better, but his form is still a bit square, and the gather isn’t that fluid. I think this jumper is a rewrite, and it’s hard to buy into him being a shooter at some point. The worry here is that a lacking jumper would allow defenses to go under screens all the time and just dare him to shoot while trying to cut off his driving angles and bog down the offense. When he doesn’t have the ball, he would really struggle to not be a liability in terms of defenders sagging entirely off him into the paint to clutter things for his teammates. And arguably, the biggest problem is that he doesn’t really have a way to beat defenses with any sort of in-between game. Russell Westbrook could at least stop and pop on-balance for a midrange jumper. Thompson hasn’t displayed any of that to this point. In general, Amen has some offensive craft questions. Think it’ll probably take a bit of time for him (and Ausar) to develop due to a lack of reps in the half court against high-level, set defenses. His handle can get a bit loose, and he can overdribble a bit. It could be a function of playing in Overtime Elite, but he dominates the ball and completely drives transition play. In the half court, he can be a bit muted. He has some ball-control turnovers. He gets up in the air to make things happen as a jump passer. While that can be to his advantage, he sometimes gets caught in no-man’s land. His decision-making as a finisher could use some work, and I think he can often take off for the rim with his final step a bit too far away from the basket, which leads to some more difficult attempts. Also has this weird tendency to try to put some English on the ball as a finisher as opposed to making the simple play, leading to some rim-outs. He is very right-hand-dominant as a finisher. Higher-level defenders can play off that tendency a bit more than you’d like to see. Most of his issues seem to be correctable at the basket, but it will be a process. The flaws defensively are real but entirely fixable. On the ball, as mentioned above, Thompson plays very high and upright. He gets driven by more often than you’d think, as smaller guards can get lower than him at the point of attack and out-leverage him with their strides. He also ends up getting clipped on screens more often than you’d like to see. Does at times show real potential to get skinny over the top of them but still hasn’t quite figured out how to consistently not get hit. In recovery, he can be a monster threat from behind to contest but takes weird angles and at times goes for the big block. Thompson is also a riverboat gambler on defense. Loves to play as a roamer out top and on the back line. His goal is to make action plays happen and get out in transition. If he doesn’t get home, it’ll sometimes result in sloppy closeouts and overaggressive pursuit angles that force the defense behind him to scramble. Can occasionally lose his man as well. Needs to focus on staying more solid on his assignment. All of this, of course, could also be a function of playing OTE-level competition, where he and Ausar were far and away the top players and could really get away with everything because of their recovery athleticism. SUMMARY Thompson has all the physical tools you could ask for in an NBA prospect. He will enter the league as a top-1 percent athlete. He has great creativity and has grown up as a point guard, which gives him a tremendous sense of how to read the floor. He’s aggressive and plays with an extremely switched-on motor. His athleticism and willingness to push the pace in transition alone will allow him to be tremendously productive. His ceiling is All-NBA if everything breaks right. But his floor is probably a bit lower than you’d think too. The shooting is a genuine flaw that will be difficult to fix. The other flaws are substantive within his game and could cause him issues in the half court. Thompson is a bet on your developmental team if you’re selecting him in the top five. He has all the upside you could ask for, and he’s willing to work. Both Thompsons are terrific competitors and are willing to put in the time and effort when it comes to getting better. I think I would bet on Amen to figure out everything else outside of the shooting. Where you slot him will depend almost entirely upon your philosophy on how essential shooting is for lead creators who can pressure the rim and make passing reads at an elite level. There is a case for him as high as No. 2 in the class purely due to his athletic tools, his ability to pressure the rim and incredible feel for the game as a passer.
Ausar profile Spoiler 09. Ausar Thompson | W | Overtime Elite | Birthdate: Jan. 30, 2003 (Age: 20) | 6-6 | 195 LBS | Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla. BACKGROUND Twin brother of fellow 2023 prospect Amen Thompson. Parents are Maya and Troy. Troy played basketball when he was young- er. Thompson also has an older brother, Troy Jr., who was a multi-year starter at Prairie View A&M. They also have an uncle, Mark, who was a 400-meter hurdle competitor for Jamaica at the 1992 Olympics. The family is originally from Oakland, Calif., which is where the twins grew up. Troy Sr. took a very active role in developing them as basketball players from an early age, and they focused on the sport prior to reaching their teens. Amen is more the point guard, whereas Ausar is more the true wing. They developed clear talent and were offered scholarships to play at Pine Crest School, a strong academic high school in Florida that would also give them the opportunity to compete against better competition. The twins were terrific in their years at Pine Crest, growing to 6-foot-6 and leading the school to a 4A division state title. The twins were looking to up their level of competition to the prep school level and had decided to transfer before they were offered deals from Overtime Elite, a start-up league for high school prospects who wanted to get paid to play. The twins signed with OTE and had a terrific first season as they narrowed their focus even further onto basketball. Ausar won the league’s MVP award in both 2022 and 2023 and led his team with Amen to the league’s title in each season. They will be the first players drafted from Overtime Elite. They’re high-character, very intelligent and well-regarded as workers. STRENGTHS Thompson, very similarly to his brother, is an elite athlete. Whereas Amen is a top-1 percent athlete, Ausar is more of a top 5 percent athlete. Great quickness and speed. Covers ground very quickly with long strides. Much like Amen, a very easy leaper who gets off the ground quickly and with extreme height. Can leap off one foot or two feet and gets head at rim level no matter what. Plays hard and has a terrific motor. Really see this often as an offensive rebounder, where he crashes the glass and is a highlight waiting to happen going for putbacks and out in transition. Has some wing creation skills as a scorer getting to the rim, although there are concerns. Very patient and polished. He’s poised and rarely tries to force the issue in a negative way. Decisive straight-line driver who uses those long strides and his fast first step to get to the rim. Has the ability to accelerate and explode to the rim or decelerate and let guys go by. Has very polished footwork and does a great job of going from slow to fast out of hesitations. Doesn’t quite have the twitch of Amen but uses his craft to create advantages. Off the ball, he’s a sharp cutter and mover. Constantly looking to 45 cut and get to the rim without the ball. Good baseline cutter. Athleticism makes him a real threat because of how quickly he can beat his man. Attacks the glass very hard and creates second chance opportunities with his putback quick-leaping ability. Once he gets to the rim, I love him as a finisher. His touch and creativity are terrific. Has a bevy of finger rolls, touch floaters and little running hook shots to finish around and over the top of defenders. Has a lot of little feints and fakes to get guys in the air, then uses his length to finish with both hands. Made 65.4 percent at the rim in total. Thompson is a very good passer and plays unselfishly. Might be his best skill. Moves the ball on a line, keeps it rolling within the flow of the offense. Great transition passer who hits the outlet man or hit-ahead pass regularly. But more than that, I really like the way he attacks in the half court. Hits passes all over the court. Recognizes help defenders quickly and makes incisive, aggressive reads without being a gambler. Terrific lob passer, particularly out of ball screens. Great at collapsing the defense and drawing help, then reading the court and hitting the open man. Does a solid job of manipulating defenders out of ball screens, particularly on the back side. Makes quick reads and does so off a live dribble or when he’s on the move off an action. Recognizes advantages and hits them quickly. Good defensive upside given his athleticism and intelligence. Better than Amen as a one-on-one on-ball defender. Very switchable. Has great mechanics in terms of sliding and sticking in front of his man. Does a good job navigating screens. Absorbs contact well on the ground. Has extremely high upside as an on-ball defender at the next level because of that mix of motor, aggressiveness and athleticism. A very fluid mover. Also good in recovery if he gets beat. Takes good angles. Effective weakside player who can gamble and get home to create home run opportunities. Solid shot blocker at the rim. Not quite the driver in transition that Amen is in terms of going defense to offense, but he is overall a steadier defender who does a better job of rotating around and staying within scheme.
Spoiler WEAKNESSES The key with Ausar is the shooting. It’s not quite there yet. He has a better shot than Amen, and it is smoother and softer out of his hand. Sometimes he doesn’t get himself all the way squared up, and it can result in him getting inconsistent engagement in his lower half. Struggles to shoot it on the move. Shot prep isn’t awesome. Seems to have lived his life up to this point getting the ball and driving from the wing because he’s had an athletic advantage on everyone. Needs to have a lot of time and be really set to make them. Very square to the rim. Shoots the ball from far out in front of his face. But I do think the shot looks a bit more fluid than Amen’s, and his follow-through looks clean. Mechanically, the twins have continued to make tweaks throughout the career as they work through this deficiency. The shot has changed drastically from where it was two years ago. Looks cleaner. Good footwork to get to his stepback. But the results haven’t been consistent enough. Ausar made just 33.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s this past season, a non-disastrous number but one he’ll need to improve upon. He also made just 30.4 percent of his pull-up jumper attempts, per Synergy. Thompson is great in a straight line, but if you cut him off, he can struggle to make the adjustment. Doesn’t quite flip his hips and change direction that well. Not the kind of guy who’s going to string together multiple moves in a row to get a paint touch. Think he doesn’t quite have as much control over the ball as Amen, and the handle is a bit looser. Unless he’s going in a straight line, I don’t think he quite gets as much out of his explosiveness as he could. This is a real improvement area for Ausar moving forward as he tries to develop his game. It should come in time as he gets more comfortable. This inability to separate led to Thompson struggling a bit more at the rim for this level than you’d think in half-court settings. In 24 games tracked by Synergy, Thompson made just 51.1 percent of his shots at the basket, a number that isn’t particularly good given his age and talent compared to competition. Defensively, he has a few of the same concerns Amen does, but Ausar is a bit more polished. Plays similarly upright, particularly when closing out onto offensive players. He allows a lot more blow-bys than you’d think given his athleticism and needs to sit down a bit more. Additionally, he’s not quite the pure riverboat gambler that Amen is but has some of those tendencies. If he gets beat, he will go for the poke sometimes, particularly off closeouts. Will try to jump passing lanes a bit too aggressively. SUMMARY In my opinion, the shooting question is much more important for Ausar than it is for Amen. Because Ausar figures to be playing off the ball much more often, he’ll be asked to space the floor and not allow his man to sag off him and shrink the floor in a significant way. If he can’t shoot, there’s a chance it’s hard for him to start in the NBA. That’s why his floor is a bit lower than Amen’s, in my view. Having said that, if he does shoot it – and again, both twins are extremely high-level workers – the ceiling for Ausar is extremely high. It would open his game entirely on offense because it would allow him to be that secondary creator who plays out of ball screens on the second side but also can attack off the catch off kickouts to continue to bend defenses. His driving game would open because he’d be able to attack more often in straight lines. His passing is terrific for a secondary creator at 6-foot-7. His defense has real upside that is probably just below All-Defense caliber. All that leads to a legitimate All- Star ceiling. The player he most reminds me of is Andre Iguodala right now. It’s all going to come down to how much you trust the human beings involved and how confident you feel in how the ball comes out of his hands even if the mechanics are a work in progress. If you’re a believer, you might have Ausar as high as No. 4 on your board. If you’re not, it’s reasonable to have him somewhere more in the middle of the first round. I’m much more on the believer side because I believe in him to figure out an answer on the jumper. But there is some risk.
Vecenie has him 5, KOC has him behind Ausar, Givony has him falling to the Wizards It's safe to say Amen Thompsons stock is in absolute freefall The Big Boards are never wrong. No wonder Rockets PR is working overtime trying to pump him back up.
whoops, double post, thanks @zeeshan2 surprised whitmore is in his top 4... i dont see anything that special with him besides athleticism
Tier Vic: Victor Wembanyama Tier 1: Projectable All-NBA Upside Tier 2: Projectable All-Star Upside Tier 3: High-Leverage Starters Tier 4: Starter/All-Star Tool Swings Tier 5: Rotation Players and Upside Swings Tier 6: Second-Round Guarantee Swings Tier 7: Priority Two-Ways Tier 8: Two-Ways, Stashes, Exhibit 10s
Amen's elite passing is a better and more valuable skill than anybody else in that range. Clear pick at #4. I don't see the argument for Whitmore, Ausar, or anybody else really, assuming it goes 1. Wemby 2. Scoot 3. Miller
