According to draft Kings, Scoot is now the favorite to go two to the Hornets. It looks like Lillard will be traded to Miami, which means they might looking to draft a pg like Amen Thompson. Welcome to Houston, Brandon Miller.
For even greater context: 36ers 100% were not treating this like a *real* game, ala the Suns preseason game: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474848 Guys that barely played the Suns game got way more minutes this game. But I'm also not sure ~20 minutes = "barely played" for Randall. Admittedly he only took 3 shots, which goes to what I was saying about them not taking it seriously, but...these guys were on the court for a good chunk of time. Also, I'm not a Kai Sotto fan...but I think some people on CF were clamoring for him at one point. He's definitely got NBA size at least.
Cleveland is a legit defender and he gets blown by a couple times by Amen (although don't know how engaged he was)
If Amen was just hitting jump shots over 5'10" guys or simply pushing guys out of the way (bully ball) I would be more concerned about the translation. The explosive first step, lateral quickness, body control, leaping ability--all that stuff translates to the NBA, as we've seen many times. You can't fake that stuff, it works at any level. There are a few other guys currently in the league with comparable athleticism who do the same stuff and it works for them at least well enough to stay on the court. Hell, Rockets fans should know that as well as anybody, we already have one of those guys (Green). That doesn't mean Amen is ready to step in right away and be a starting-caliber contributor. As with Green, he's raw, you're just trading some shooting ability for better playmaking and more height/length. But I do think his athleticism is good enough that he'll be able to stay on the court right now as an effective backup point guard, and I believe in his intangibles allowing him to move forward from there and get better at shooting and all the other things.
https://theathletic.com/4606733/202...es-scouts-on-the-top-guard-prospects-in-2023/ The Thompson Twins Twenty years old and each 6-7, identical twins Amen and Ausar Thompson have been a combo package throughout their development, beginning in their hometown of Oakland, throughout their rocket-like ride through AAU ball and during their multi-year stay with Overtime Elite, the Atlanta-based player development league whose parent company has become a giant in the social media space. OTE’s YouTube Channel has 216,000 subscribers and streams all of the league’s games. The Thompsons will be the first OTE players taken in the NBA Draft. Amen (pronounced “Ah-men,” with a short A) is a point guard prospect, with length and more than a willingness to get into a stance and disrupt ballhandlers. But his shot needs a lot of work. Ausar (“Aw-Sir”) has the better shot and is also a willing defender but isn’t the playmaker his brother is. With his electric athletic ability, Amen is likely to be a top-five pick; Ausar will almost certainly go just a few picks later. It seemed odd not to rank them both at the same time. Eastern Conference Executive 1: I’m Amen all the way. He’s got the chance to be a superstar. He’s just got more skill level. He’s got the ability to play point guard. Both of them have to become better shooters. … they’re all-time great kids, high character, 4.0 student-type guys. This Overtime Elite, though. … All they do is isolation stuff. Both Thompsons overdribble crazy. If they were playing (for) Ignite or in college, coaches would have them out of that kind of crap. … I told our guys to just watch them practice and scrimmage. It sounds crazy, but (Amen’s) got a little LeBron in him, back in the day. He’s got the big-time body. Not quite as big, but, wow. Remember LeBron in high school; he couldn’t shoot it, very athletic, he was very much a facilitator too. Both of them have a chance to be really good. With Ausar, it’s probably going to come down to what team and who has what. Western Conference Scout 2: They’re very good. Neither one shoots it really well. Ausar shoots it better. They’re athletic, they have size, they guard (bleeping) everybody. They throw (Andre) Iguodala (as a comp) a lot, and it’s pretty fair. Ballhandling, defending, athletic wings. That’s kind of who they are. They’re non-shooters. Like, Iguodala. Later in life he made some 3s. But no one will ever convince anyone that he was a shooter, ’cause he was a 65 percent (Editor’s note: 71 percent) career free-throw shooter. So he’s not a shooter. He willed in some 3s later in his career. He was just so good at everything else. When you played him, you go, ‘OK, I have to surround him with shooters.’ Let’s say one of them is around. And you’re not ready to win now, anyway. So it doesn’t matter. It’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got a really good asset.’ Then, if they believe in (either), and he has a good year, you say, ‘OK, I know who he is.’ Let’s say he’s Andre Iguodala. Now, you build accordingly. I need shooting, I need shooting. I can’t have Amen Thompson in my backcourt and Rudy Gobert in my frontcourt — two non-offensive players who are on the court at all times. So I need more offense. I can’t have Clint Capela; I’ve gotta have (Jonas) Valančiūnas. So I have an offensive guy. … I don’t have all non-shooters on the court with Thompson. Amen is at least a point forward. He’s good with the ball. And he can guard anybody. And to his credit, he doesn’t take (bleeped)-up shots. He kind of knows who he is. It’s the deluded guys that kind of ruin the show, like, you can’t shoot, but you do. Iguodala never took (bleeped) up shots, because he understood that wasn’t his strength … but those two kids know. They’re good people; their pops is a good guy. It’s just, what level are they? Where do you pick them? I think they both go in the top 10. Western Conference Executive 2: Both concern me because this speaks to the model: After two years of dedicating themselves to basketball, you still can’t shoot the ball? Here’s the analogy I would give you, and if turns out to be this guy, then that is a great pick. If (Ausar) turns out to be Shawn Marion, he’s a hell of a pick. Shawn Marion came into the league, couldn’t shoot for (bleep). He never changed that broken-arm form. But he did learn to shoot the corner jumper and then he just played the game with his incredible athleticism. He’s about the same size as the Matrix. They (Amen and Ausar) play with the same type of dynamic athleticism as the Matrix; they handle it a little bit like the Matrix did. Now, Shawn happened to play on a team where he had very skilled players around him, so his lack of certain types of skills wasn’t as problematic. But that’s the comparison I make. And if he ends up being the Matrix, then he’s a hell of a pick. And if I’m not mistaken, Shawn went somewhere around nine or 10th (ninth, in the 1999 draft).
For the Houston Rockets' pick at No. 4, two names continue to come up: Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore. Sources close to the situation say Thompson is most likely their best-player-available choice. But some uncertainty surrounds James Harden's free agency—specifically his price tag. Whatever happens with Harden could impact how Thompson's fit factors into their decision. Whitmore, more than a year younger than the Thompsons, has closed the gap on the No. 4 spot during the pre-draft process. His effortless athleticism and shot-making during workouts suggest both a high floor and high ceiling. However, a week before the draft, sources still say Amen Thompson has the edge with his needed playmaking and defense next to Jalen Green.
I'm not that high on anybody outside of Wemby/Scoot, but if we got Amen and he was either Iggy or Marion I'd actually consider that a very successful pick.
You got dumbasses saying he won't get passed 2, won't get passed 3. My nightmare is becoming a reality. Let's get Cam or trade back. They got him comped Jaden McDaniels, who the Fook is that guy?
The Western Exec that sees Shawn Marion as a comp is only looking at the broken form. So I guess that comment holds true: shooters are made, not born. I've been trying to think of a similar comp to Amen, and the only person that comes to mind is 21-year-old Penny Hardaway. They have similar body types and games, though Penny could shoot about 15% better from deep at that age. And comparing the tape, Thompson looks quicker (maybe a little longer) and more explosive above the rim. Penny also looks less clueless on defense at that age. Thompson has plenty of nice tools but hasn't figured out how to use hardly any of them. If the Rockets add AT, they've solved their backup PG problem, though we will have to endure at least two more seasons of what we've seen from Green and Company (guys standing flatfooted on D, giving up layups and open 3s). There's only so much that a better coach can bring here. But I don't see 40 wins with this pick and the current free-agent class. I don't see any executives making a mistake and letting Scoot drop down the board. The available talent, like Amen or Cam, can be developed but it will take time. We'll likely need to move on from some younger players to prepare ourselves to do just that.
Jaden McDaniels is a good player, lowkey was a top 20-25 defensive player this year while shooting 40% from three. I've been beating the drum on trading with Minny to try and get him over here. That said, it would be a disappointment to get a very good roleplayer like McDaniels with a top 5 pick in this class, and I do worry that Miller is going to end up somewhere along those lines (McDaniels, Cam Johnson, Harrison Barnes, etc).
He's always been the best athlete in the draft. Now, he might go #3 and Miller slides down. Idk if that's good or bad... just glad we didn't get 5th pick or worse at this point. Thank goodness the draft is top heavy.
