@Nook isn't wrong - in the grand scheme of things Amen is a guy every team would want. No shade to Sengun who is similarly a top tier player - I would think that Nook maybe was referring to our recent draft picks now that Sengun is no longer on his rookie deal. All that said - no homerism aside, Wemby is perhaps a top 3 player in the NBA today and we can't say that about Amen or Sengun and the Spurs have managed to surround him with a couple of solid vets, a legit All Star PG in Fox, and managed I think the perfect draft pick in Dylan Harper to complement him not to mention a tough group of role players they have collected to build out that team. On talent they may indeed be better than Houston by the end of the year and that's not because Houston did anything wrong - it's just to say Wemby ceiling is THAT high - he looks like a legit HOFer provided he can remain healthy. Guys like Bari, Reed, and Tari are just varying level of role player. They can certainly make or break a team's chances of competing for a title in the right "fit", but they are contextual to the rosters they play on and don't raise the ceilings of teams by themselves. If you removed the best player on the Wizards and replaced them with Wemby, they are likely a playoff team. If you put Amen or Sengun on the Wizards in the same scenario they are a play in team at least if not a playoff team. The same can not be said of the other guys even if "every team in the league would want them".
Hopefully its not one of those "top 3 picks in a historically bad draft" things like it was when we drafted Reed.
Ehh I don't know about preferring the Rockets roster 2-14 or draft capital wise. The Rockets have Sengun and he is very good - and Jabari Smith and Tari Eason are good role players, and Reed Sheppard has some upside untapped if he can get more consistent. The Spurs have De'Aaron Fox (who is flawed but very good), Stephon Castle who is off to a solid start, Dylan Harper who looks pretty damn good... Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan and Vassell that can shoot...... and Carter Bryant that is a wildcard. The Rockets and Spurs both have pretty good draft picks going forward.
This is true for a lot of teams - but improved and more consistent perimeter shooting will go a long way towards improving the Rockets ceiling. If Sheppard starts shooting more consistently well from the perimeter, we will see the rest of his game open up and improve. Sheppard will never be Castle or Holiday defensively - but I believe with time and more confidence he will be surprisingly effective on that side of the ball.
Unfortunately experts are predicting 2027 to be even worse than 2024 so uh....it makes sense too since 2025 and 2026 are so loaded with talent you get a talent drain eventually.
Unless he grows taller and his arms grow longer there will be a cap on his defense. Reed does have extremely high feel for the game and can get multiple stocks and deflections but those can only do so much against the best guards like SGA, Cade, JDub etc. You need size and length so you dont get hunted and targeted by the 6'6 guards which are all the rage now. He can get the stock and deflection but he also allows guys to drive past him all the time. The other issue is Reed seems to play soft and avoid any contact. The guy is playing 24 mpg and averaging less than 1 FTA. He is extremely non physical and that also hurts his defense a lot.
There is a cap on Sheppard defensively - why he doesn't have the upside defensively of Holiday or Castle. However there are a lot of things he can do to improve to the point where defensive isn't an issue a lot of times. His strong and quick hands help, so does his ability to cut really well, which will allow him to make up ground when he loses a defender. His lack of height will always be an issue (like it was for Paul and Stockton), but a strong core will limit that advantage. I expect Sheppard to keep adding lower body and core muscle - but you are right, he is never going to have a 6'8" wingspan or be 6'6" at the point.
Well, what can I say… delusion. I’d like to see in that hypothetical how you would explain to KD that we passed on a 2x All-Star so that we develop Amen Thompson
How is that even remotely similar??? Wemby is already a top 10 player in the NBA and he is a full year younger than Amen! Besides, he is the main cog in the Spurs looooong window, which is now just opening. You don’t trade Wemby, you look for pieces around him, and you have the luxury to do it patiently. Our window is extremely short, since our guy is 37 year old. If you can trade a prospect for a developed player, like Garland for example, you have to do it.
Most innocuous comment is perceived as trolling, if it goes against this board’s delusions about our young players. I remember when Donovan Mitchell became available, people here would react if I suggested to trade Jalen Green for him…. Austen Reeves for J. Green? You’d be ran out of town if you suggested it… Amen is a better prospect than Green, but this also seems like an NBA CW now, and I think his stock may be a bit overvalued. sure, he can turn into All-NBA, such future Universe exists. But also he can top out at Nic Batum’s level, for example….
Pretty sure KD wouldn't mind it considering the Rockets were on his list and the Cavs weren't, in large part because of Amen.
The Spurs picks depend on San Antonio or Atlanta being very bad in the short term. They do have 1 swap with Sacramento in 2031 that could end up being good. I think the Celtics, Mavs, and T-Wolves will be good when SA has swap rights. I trust the Nets and Suns to be worse than Atlanta, and I value the Rockets Dallas pick more than the Spurs Dallas pick as it is sooner (I expect Flagg will get better over time). I think Rockets easily have more picks and the swaps the Rockets have are with worse teams without a likely All-NBA player. Also, if one thinks San Antonio is better, the Houston picks are also better than the SA picks. There is a chance the Spurs get lucky, but I don't see how one could reasonaly say that the Spurs draft capital is valued today higher than the Rockets. On 2-14, I think Sengun is easily better now and likely better bet in the future than Harper. Durant beats Fox short-term, I don't think the Spurs keep Fox long-term due to salary problems. I would have Tari and JSJ over Castle. I'd have Reed above Keldon Johnson and Vassell. Also, with Durant taking a pay cut and Fox not, the Rockets will have more flexibility on trading for a star. The Spurs without Wemby would get slaughtered by an Amenless Rockets going forward.
Dort, iHart and Kenrich can all be traded or declined for next year. They won't be in serious trouble until possibly 27/28. This year is probably their peak.
lol dang man, you felt targeted af by my comment huh? Like someone just says "some people are loud and obnoxious" and you felt the need to respond about how Amen might be Nic Batum? Lit.
Yeah man - sucks he had that blood clot and had to miss a large chunk of last season but if you honestly still think Wemby isn’t a SIGNIFICANTLY better player than Sengun - then I suggest you educate yourself there. Love Alpi - truly an emerging Rocket legend but Wemby is a legit MVP level player and future HOFer if he can stave off the injuries. Maybe he continues to have health problems and never gets there but much like Yao - he is the real deal even if his body won’t let him fulfill the promise.
He was not projecting to make the playoffs last year either. When he leads a team to a Top 2 seed in the West and its been more than one week into the season let me know.
Wemby is probably going to be the better player than Sengun throughout their respective prime years, but "probably" is an important qualifier here. It is possible that his career will be ruined by injuries and/or that Sengun has a surprising rise to MVP status. Stranger things have happened. As of right now I'd say Sengun has had the better career so far in its totality, due to staying healthier, a larger quantity of star-level production, more/better high level Euro play, and having been a key playoff contributor already. But he's had two more years in the league and plays for a better team, so that's not surprising.
As of right now, Wemby is a better player than Sengun and if we had Wemby on this team instead of Sengun we'd be title favorites. Nothing against Sengun, but Wemby is a different beast.
