I think if Jalen doesn't improve, the Rockets will try to get someone big for a SG to make it hard for teams to play a small PG on someone besides Amen.
I would let FVV finish out his contract on two years before I think about starting Amen. He’s been develop good and on schedule but he still has a lot to work on if we want him to succeed as a starter
I think the kid has potential as a 3. His body looks like he could easily add 15 lbs and not lose any quickness.
Amen has much better body control. He can play tenacious defense without losing control of his body and running into the offensive player.
That seems random to me. What if the small guy is better than our bigger guard? Next to Amen has to be the best player we can find who’s an excellent shooter - I don’t get the point of obsessing about size. I don’t think FVV is up for that role playing off ball and we’d be severely overpaying him in that role. I don’t think Amen can beat FVV out any time soon anyway. We have someone big for SG. His name is Cam Whitmore maybe you’ve heard of him. 6’5 built like a tank, runs fast, flies high, shoots lights out and one of the most electric dunkers in the NBA. Amen needs to develop a 3PT shot or I promise he won’t be allowed to start. I know fans love to root for the underdog, the midrange guy, the guy with no shot, but it’s not a thing in the NBA anymore. We don’t need a handicap that we always have to worry about and scheme around. We need to put ourselves at an advantage whenever possible. Every single season, this trend is dying a little more. Let’s be on the side of progress. If anything was this team desperately needs is Sengun to develop a 3pt shot so we have the option of going 5-out. We never have that option and it’s critical these days as a weapon. Amen has time, he’s still a rookie. I think by end of next season he’ll have a passable shot. More likely he doesn’t start till year 3 - and that would be the case for any playoff-chasing team he would be on. Next season will be even less excuses for youth so chances of him being allowed to clog the offense are low.
With everything I’ve seen, he will certainly start without a 3 pt shot. This isnt Jalen Green. Amen has transcendent abilities. Rebounding, defense, finishing, passing will all be elite enough to make him a winning player. Will we want to play him with a few (better) shooters who aren’t on the roster? Sure.
If they find someone small that is signifcantly better than alternatives, sure go with him. What if a big guard is signifcantly better than than your small guy? My assumption is based on the Rockets trying to find guys that fit. Also, stars tend to be bigger unless PGs. Your assumption relies on the Rockets having someone small that opposing teams can be hide small guys on. FVV won't be the solution long term. Long term, I think Cam, Amen, Smith or Tari, and Sengun will be starters unless the Rockets get a star externally at one of their positions (stars tend to be big unless they are points). Unless the Rockets get someone like Mitchell or Trae (or Green blossoms) and assuming Amen is a starter, long term, I think the Rockets would benefit by being big across the boards to force a small guy onto Amen and to help defensively with Sengun at center. There just aren't that many small guys that I think will work with Sengun at center and they tend to be great PGs. I'd be happy with a great small star PG.
We can play it by ear. I think Amen will be outplaying FVV by the deadline, but there is a chance he won’t. If FVV keeps up this 29% shooting from 3 the rest of the year, Amen will be more valuable this year. The more time he gets with Sengun and Jabari the faster our rise.
I don't get why some posters are down on him. He is a legitimate 5x5 threat in the future and can score pretty efficiently without a shot right now which is crazy. I think he can be our version of Draymond
I don't think FVV is the bar Amen needs to beat to be a starter in the short term. On FVV shooting 29% from 3, that is likely not going to happen.
Amen so far looks pretty positionless and that's a great thing in today's NBA. I think he'll probably end up being more of a Shawn Marion or Shane Battier type of player over his career than a Ben Simmons or Michael Carter Williams which was the initial concern I had. He's a 2,3,4 wing... not a Point Guard or really even a SG IMO. A smart coach would figure out how to get him away from the arc at this point in his career which I see Ime doing more and more. Over the Summer see if he cannot develop a shot that makes it to where you have to guard him, but he's never going to be good enough to be a featured shooter as a PG or SG. Shooting at that level just never happens except for the few Jason Kidd type of anomalies. Shawn Marion shot 18% his rookie year from 3, and even later in his career had some seasons where he was shooting 15%. However he did develop the shot to where he did have some stretches where he had to be guarded in the corners. I think that's kind of where I see Amen's potential going in terms of development. However Amen is an even better passer than Marion or Battier. So he has the potential to be even better than those two guys, but what he does now so well translates best to what those two guys did over their careers. Amen's going to be a damn good player, but I'm not sure he's a superstar. However let's not get worked up over freaking good not being superstar all time great.
Amen has really stepped up in FVV's absence. We can see he currently can play like a Ben Simmons type player but unlike Simmons, I think he's willing to shoot and improve on that end. If Stone isn't going to draft a big with whatever pick we get this year, I wouldn't be against trying to trade for Ausar on the Pistons because having two great defenders with chemistry on the fast break will be pretty amazing.
I don't think Amen and Ausar are good match in half court offensively. Defensively, I would them together.
Amen is a PG and once he gets up to just 30% 3pt shooting he's going to carry the Rockets to places they haven't been in 30 years.
