Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...s-weigh-wembanyama-mvp-race-2023-24-favorites

4. Who will be the best 2023-24 rookie -- not named Victor Wembanyama -- in five years?

Scoot Henderson: 11 votes
Amen Thompson: 3 votes
Ausar Thompson: 1 vote

With the assumption that Wembanyama, one of the most-hyped prospects to ever hit the NBA, would be considered the top player from this class down the road, we chose to frame this question slightly differently:

If you had to take someone else, who would it be?

The heavy winner was Henderson, the No. 3 overall pick to the Blazers. The only other players to get votes? The Thompson twins: Amen, who went No. 4 to the Houston Rockets, and Ausar, who went No. 5 to the Detroit Pistons.

"There's a real toughness to him," an East executive said of Henderson. "That will translate to the NBA."

Added a West coach: "If you have that kind of speed, you'll adapt quickly."

The Thompson brothers, meanwhile, both impressed after entering the NBA draft process as relative unknowns playing for Overtime Elite, rather than more traditional routes such as college or G League Ignite. Despite questions surrounding both brothers' jump shots, there was plenty of excitement about the Thompson twins' potential.

"You put [Amen Thompson] on an NBA floor today," an East scout said, "and he might be the best athlete. Great passing and playing in transition. He rebounds, he defends."

"I liked [Ausar Thompson's] poise," a West scout said. "I wasn't aware he had that kind of explosiveness. He got to the rim with ease."

 

Still putting Scoot and Amen over Wemby.

 

When Wemby wins those awards, then we will see.

 

Considering the amount of Spurs games on national TV vs Blazers/Rockets/Thunder you can bet that the media machine will be force feeding us Wemby whether we like it or not.

Still taking Scoot and Amen. Scottie Barnes won ROY and Embiid won MVP.

 

Yeah, I think Wemby will take some time but I think he and Chet will duke it out for DPOY and perhaps Evan Mobley in the next years.

I view them better than Jaren Jackson Jr. The return of those 7'1-7'5 since Shaq, Mutombo, Yao and Bol.

The Offense will come slowly.

 

When did other teams create defensive schemes solely around stopping Sengun? Not sure yall comprehend what a franchise player is

 

Salvy I believe is mocking people who obsses over making Sengun Luka and turn the offense into a heliocentric offense around Sengun.

 

Super excited about Amen. I think it’s going to take a few years, but if we end up hitting on him, he can really raise the level of a lot of these guys if they don’t quite hit their potential.

 

I'm expecting Amen and Alpi to develop some amazing chemistry. They are both smart players, so I think they will work very well together.

 

I hope so. I hope somebody on the team can develop the chemistry with Alpi that he had with KJ

 

Amen and Whitmore on the ROY race.

 

"Smart players figure it out" Mike D'antoni

 

Removed

 

Team chemistry is going to look a lot better without a certain someone pretending to be a PG let's be honest.

Not sure how many games we'll win but we should look more like a team.

 

Last time everyone cooked in the starting lineup plus bench was when Chris Paul co-led the team to 65-66 Wins I believe.

Good for history books....

 

The next Mary Kate and Ashley.

 

I liked that play where he waved off Sengun to set something up, dribbled into traffic and backed it out only to jack up a contested 3 he bricked. Absolute wizard that guy was.