Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

As you said, I appreciate the thought you put into your perspective. I do want to challenge one thing here:

This has absolutely not been true for significant stretches of Butler's recent career. Between 2019 and 2022, three recent seasons, Jimmy Butler's three point percentage was 24.0% and he hit only 0.5 three point shots per game (so he contributed 1.5 points with his three point shooting on average). As far as the, "two-way player who gets a decent number of assists"--that description is pretty much the floor for Amen at this point if he stays healthy.

My belief is that Amen is a really rare kind of player, and that's why people struggle to figure out where he's going to land. Very few players have his kind of physical tools at all, let alone pair them with fantastic IQ, love for the game, great motor, etc. I do not think he needs a three point shot to be a starting-caliber player in the NBA, I'm going to say that straight out. I've always said his floor is higher than people think and I stand by that. As far as becoming a star-level player, who knows? He has more to work on than just shooting. But a guy with his intangibles, I'm happy to bet on being successful and I will give him all the opportunities to do so.

 

Fair point but I maintain he has to be a slightly better shooter than Butler to have a Butler-like career in this era.

The good thing about Amen is he's a hard worker so I have faith in him developing a decent jumpshot. Our staff mostly comes from an excellent shooting development background. Udoka put an emphasis on shooting more late in the season and working on it in the offseason.

I guess there just wasn't enough to time to tear his mechanics down and start over. Though I'd argue if he's shooting 18% what's the harm tearing it down, can't get worse.

I wouldn't be completely shocked if he made 30% of 2 attempts next season after a dedicated summer of work. That would already bring us so close to an ideal medium before he is extension eligible. Would be great.

 

I agree that players who can't shoot and not massively strong will decline rapidly once they start losing their speed and athleticism. If Amen doesn't develop a long range shot, he will age much faster than say a Harden or a Curry. But that's something we don't have to worry about for about 10 more years.

I don't agree that a fast and athletic guy without an outside shot cannot be a star in this era, especially if you have good handles and good footwork. Being able to dish also helps to keep the defense honest. Morant and Butler are good examples. You do need to get to at least 30%+ from 3 though. These guys might not get 10+ free throws like Giannis, but they do get around 8-9 a game at their prime.

One more thing about Amen that's superior to these guys. He can get offensive rebounds better than all of them. That in itself will generate more put back points and FTAs.

That said, I am totally an advocate for any player to be good shooters. I really hope both Amen and Sengun to be able to shoot to a respectable level from 3. The discussion of whether Amen can be a star without a shot is just a worst case scenario discussion.

 

Butler could get away with that because he transformed from an awful 3-point shooter to a mediocre one on much higher volume come playoff time. During that same stretch in the postseason, he shot 33% on 3 attempts per game. Sure he wasn't Steph out there, but he wasn't a Russ/Simmons tier liability where you could leave him alone at all times either.

 

Thompson will be a star.

 

I think he has the most pure upside as of 7/24 but he'll need to take a step forward as a playmaker this season to get there.

 

I get lost in Sengun's amazing abilities, that I keep forgetting about Amen.

I could watch him play 48 minutes straight of defense alone and be downright giddy.

 

He doesn’t necessarily need s 3. That would be nice. He couldn’t shoot beyond 8-9 ft last year. From 10-15 ft he shot .292 and 23 of those 24 were jumpshots. He needs to focus on this 15 ft elbow or FT line pullup J. Also a floater game from 7-8 ft would elevate his game tremendously as he only attempted 37 FGA from 5-9 ft. He needs 2 out of these 3 to diversify his game. He’s on the cusp though.

 

I thought 33% isn't good enough? That's what Jalen shoots and is apparently complete garbage tier...

 

What would be a good improvement from Amen as far as shooting is concerned this year? 25% from 3? 30% from 3? Floater package? He already has a little floater.

 

Huge difference between launching 2 a game and 7 a game like Jalen. If Jalen went to the FT line all the time and averaged 7 assists like Ja Morant or Jimmy Butler at his peak, there wouldn't be any doubt to him getting the max. Jalen's problem wasn't "he's so bad teams play 4-on-5 every time down the court on offense" his problem is "for a lead guard who handles the ball and takes a lot of shots, he's not a good enough shooter or passer to justify either."

 

So it's a bigotry of lower expectations for Amen thing.

 

There are no expectations for Jalen on the defensive end or the glass.

So he better be able to put the biscuit in the basket.

 

Absolutely. Amen's path to being a star is being a all NBA level type defender while being a Giddey type offensive connector. Agree.

Giddey and Amen are very similar offensive players. Giddey has a bit more craft and touch though but Amen is far more athletic. Giddey is bad defender though.

 

If Jalen rebounded like a 7 footer and played all-NBA caliber defense while showing flashes of great court vision, he'd be a superstar with his current percentages.

 

Can we temper on claims of court vision for Amen?

So far he's shown the same type of vision that a player like Jock Landale shows. Decent processing as a connector in situations like the short roll.


How is Amen's court vision when he's trying to maintain a live dribble with multiple NBA defenders swiping at the ball trying to make him stop his dribble in a half court set? We don't know. It could fall apart for all we know.

 

He doesn’t shoot many floaters. 20 attempts last year total

 

By almost every measure, Thompson was a better overall player his rookie season than Jalen Green has ever been.

Now sure, Chuck Green scored more points.... but just looking at raw scoring total is not an intelligent way of evaluating players

 

LOL. Somehow Jalen Green arguments are in this Amen thread. I wonder why.