When the Rockets failed to make a move at the deadline they effectively were punting this season. Their sole purpose should be to develop their young core. Moving Amen to the bench or to the dunker spot would mean he will be traded when the time comes, because he will not accept an extension. He’ll still ball out, because that is what he is, but he is a basketball savant and knows to become a superstar it will be with the ball in his hands. If the Rockets weren’t willing to go “all in” at the deadline why would they do it now?
You talk about him like he is a max player. There is zero chance he gets a max contract without a jump shot. Now if he develops one he may very well get max money.
C'mon.... This is out of control. You've lost all sense of what's what here. Amen is going to be not only our best player, but one of the best in the League. We've got him playing out of position. Once he's off ball, as secondary ball handler, etc...it will be obvious. We need a PG that's up to speed. Reed will get there eventually. Again, he's best with the ball in his hands. In the meantime...
Going all-in is generally stupid. Only time to do it is with an aging roster that is healthy at the trade deadline with a good chance that the all-in helps odds. For most of the time, teams should be tanking if they suck, or trying to win if they don't without throwing away the future. The Rockets are in a place where they should try to win and develop players. I think Amen needs to start, but the Rockets need to figure out how to handle teams that sag off non-shooters effectively. Sometimes the Rockets handle it well; others, not so much. The Rockets may have been unwilling to mortgage future for this season, but don't expect the Rockets to just punt the season either. The Rockets have no intention of shortening their window on the front or back ends.
He will either get the max or pretty close to it (maybe Sengun type of contract at best). There are too many teams that either have the cap space to offer it to him the year he hits RFA, like Chicago, who would love to find a player with his upside--or can create it fairly easily, like Brooklyn, same situation. Have to remember that for rebuilding teams or any team without a true #1, first of all they have to reach the minimum salary threshold anyway like we did that year we signed FVV to the max. And second, they would love to do that by getting a guy who has even a 5% chance of becoming a legit superstar. If we don't offer him at least within 25% or so of max dollars we are going to have to match that amount or higher anyway when he comes back with an offer sheet.
One of the best players in the league who needs to play off ball, and can’t shoot at 6’6 215 It’s hard to envision. He looks like Andre Iguodala with a significantly worse jumper.
He's 6'7", an inch taller than a young Iggy, more athletic and more efficient around the rim, and a better passer and rebounder. If he does end up being something like Iguodala, it will be the supercharged version. And that's basically his floor at this point. His ceiling is still way up there, he's only in his 3rd year.
No, both Iggy and Amen measured the same height at the combine, 6’5.75 exactly. Virtually the same wingspan and weights, too. I don’t think Amen is more athletic, and efficiency at the rim Amen (Career 74% 0-3FT) vs Iggy (Career 71% 0-3FT) is negligible considering they played in different eras, both are extremely good for players their size and FGA in that area. Comparing Amen to Iggy is NOT a diss, Iggy was a special player, the only thing is Amens jumpshot has to come a long way to be truly comparable.
Amen claims he's grown taller since the draft. We can't know for certain if that's true without empirical data like the combine, but he is listed at 6'7" now whereas Iggy was always listed at 6'6". Amen does not look 6'6" to me on the court next to other players, but who knows. As far as the efficiency at the rim, you're not actually comparing apples-to-apples here. His first three years in the league (same age as Amen) Iggy shot just 65.8% from 0-3ft. Amen is massively better around the rim as a young player than Iggy was. He's also grabbing 50% more rebounds per possession (12.2 for Amen vs 8.1 for Iggy the first three years), 15% more assists per possession (6.3 to 5.5) and 15% more steals+blocks (3.6 versus 3.1). The much-higher rebounding and block numbers in particular support the idea that Amen is bigger and/or more athletic, by the way. I definitely agree that Iguodala was a great player and it's not an insult to compare Amen to him. I just also think the data supports the prediction that Amen will likely be a better player in every category except perhaps jump shooting. But I'll admit there's some projection there. Progress isn't always linear. Heck, for all we know Amen could explode as a jump shooter but regress in other areas; stranger things have happened. We can't really be sure, I'm just working off what we have and the fact that most players get better, not worse, after just three seasons in the league at ages 21-23.
Amen is at least as efficient if not marginally ahead of Iggy at a similar point in his career in virtually every stat category and is significantly ahead of him in a few(like rebounding) - and Amen is also a better athlete than Iggy. No shade to Iggy at all, but Amen is perhaps the most athletic player in the NBA at this moment and while that is very subjective because there are a lot of variables that go into athleticism(speed, power, acceleration, vertical, etc), I don't recall Iggy ever being considered a top 2 or 3 guy for his generation like Amen. Amen's floor is Andrew Iguadala and we know that because he is there now - its just the volume stats look different because they are playing on different types of teams with different needs. I think the reality is, Amen should exceed the growth of Iggy with reasonable improvements.
Thompson doesn’t need to come off the bench. Ime Udoka and his assistant coaches need to use Sengun as an offensive hub in the high post and allow Thompson to be a screener and cutter off the ball. Then, you have Durant, Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. as floor spacers. The alternative is to start Reed Sheppard and make Jabari Smith Jr. the sixth man. This gets another ball handler in the lineup, and Thompson and Eason can help cover Sheppard’s defensive weaknesses on the perimeter with Durant guarding power forwards. Those are the best paths forward for the Rockets this season when they don’t have a true point guard.
A PG needs to be involved in of lot of pick n rolls, which means the PG needs to be an outside threat if open. Otherwise, defenders just sag off the PG and cover the other player, which defeats the purpose. Or the PG needs position for a corner 3. Either way, sub optimal for Amen. He just ain't that dude and doesn't look like he will be anytime soon. Plus on defense, you want Amen picking up their best player or being a free safety, which leads to more fast breaks. As JVG once said, you want players that "bend the court" and forces the other team to be on their heels. Amen does just that but you gotta put him in the correct spots. It doesn't seem like PG is it.
You massively overrate him tbh. A "basketball savant" can hit a jumpshot fairly reliably outside of 8 feet if they're wide open. They don't even have to guard Amen, that's not a savant, it's a liability.
Whilst I do mostly agree with the premise. You do also have to remember what years Iggy played. Of course you're not going to be a top athlete when you coincide with Prime LeBron (Amen isn't close to that either) Dwight, Tmac, Rose, Westbrick, Stoudamire etc. The 2000s/10s was pretty crazy. As much as people glaze Amen if you compare the tape side by side he really isn't as freaky as people think, just much better than most current players.
Let's be honest though, of the 3 Jabroni's the one who's actually earned the bench the most. If Tari was healthy consistently I'm not sure there's even an argument of anybody else as the 2nd best player we drafted after Alpi, that shooting has proven to be legit so it's genuinely just the health. In terms of production Tari's a way better player than Bari the majority of their careers, like an overall lower tier version of the Alpi/Jalen dynamic, Stone is **** with top picks but pretty good later on.
Amen's not going to the bench. He's a top 3 player on our team and that doesn't get demoted. I think it comes down to Tari or Reed going to the bench and I'm not sure who to pick. The bigger question no one wants to think about: What happens next year when Fred returns? If people think that Fred isn't starting then I have bad news for them. So next year to me it's: PG Fred SG KD (people say he's a SG) SF Amen PF Jabari C Sengun Then Tari and Reed lead a better bench squad. Assuming we retain Tari. Does that hinder the development of Tari and Reed? Will Tari be okay with coming off the bench? I think those are big questions. Reed will only be 22 so the bench might help him as long as he gets more minutes. Tari would have to be okay with coming off the bench. Fred is starting next year if he is on the team (and I don't think he gets traded).
What? Come on, that's not reasonable. No one has ever argued that Iggy might be the most athletic NBA player in history. Amen was in that conversation in his 2nd season. Lebron James said that Amen is in a different tier than him. Iggy is not a tier more athletic than Lebron James. Iggy is not as strong and he's nowhere near as fast. Amen speed wise is in Derrick Rose territory. There's literally nothing Iggy does athletically better than Amen. Just such a huge stretch dude.
Tari has improved more than any player on the team this yr. He’s a better shooter and defender than Bari. In what world would we bench him and keep Bari in the starting lineup? And I’m also pretty sure that if Tari gets benched it’s gonna sour him even more with this team. Bari isn’t even shooting league average and he thrived in a bench role last yr. He already has his money. He’s the worst starter on the team and it’s not debatable.
