What is….We draft Amen Thompson and let him start this year. He could sign Pat Beverly as his backup, both guys are great defenders. With our 60+ million, I would overpay Cam Johnson, 30 millions for 4 years. Cam is a elite shooter shooting over 40%, great length and could be a good defender. I would either overpay Lopez from the Bucks, but if he decline us I would trade for a interior defender. I would trade KPJ and Tate for Clint Cappella. Sengun would still start but Capella would help with interior defense and he is a rim runner for Amen. It would be a big risk with Amen starting for us, without a jumper but he can develop floaters and jump hooks close to the basket. Turnovers would be a problem for him but Scoot created a lot of turnovers as well this year. Both point guards had over 3 turnovers a game, respectively. I think Bev can coach him up this year, and help him learn the ways of the NBA. I do not trust James Harden at all, I think he is using us for LEVERAGE! I would definitely overpay for Cam and I believe Brooklyn would cave and might even do a Sign and Trade with us. I’m hearing the Blazers do not like Brandon Miller and might not ask him to workout for them, due to his poor interviews and the previous murder case. Could we trade up with Charlotte?
No way Amen starts over KPJ as a rookie. We would have the worst record in the league with him starting.
If you start Amen, would you pay another vet point guard starter money just to bench him especially when you have Porter and TyTy on the bench. This whole scenario makes no sense.
I'm not sure if this is really compatible with the "phase 2" mission, which is presumably to significantly increase the win total. A year or two ago, sure, you'd just throw him into the fire like we did with Jalen and Jabari. But if you want to win at least like 8-10 more games, I don't think it's realistic to expect Amen to be the primary ballhandler 30 minutes per game on a 30+ win team. He's likely to have some growing pains. That said, I do prefer if we sign a point guard who isn't locked into a starting role for the next 3+ years. (I.e. let Harden play somewhere else.)
One draft analyst said, he believe Amen will be a multi all star player and ALL NBA player in this league without being a good shooter. How? He said think of Russell Westbrook being 6’7. He said both has the same speed and quickness but Amen can do more on defense because of his length. He believe, Amen should not focus on 3 point shooting but counter moves when driving to the basket, such as floaters. He said Houston is in great shape in this year draft, they will either draft Brandon(because Portland is not crazy about him) or Amen. Either player will be part of Houston’s core to the future.
I'm probably in the tiny minority in that I don't hate the idea of starting Amen. But it's probably not ideal. There seem to be a million different scenarios with this roster depending on free agency, but I think even with KPJ, it might be best to keep him as the starting PG at the beginning. Maybe you can still start Amen, but have him play off ball initially if he does well in training camp in that role (requires good screening, cutting, defense, etc). Otherwise, just let him get his 20-30 minutes off the bench and periodically reevaluate. I do think he needs to "earn" the starting spot (and I think JG, Jabari, etc should have too), so that's on him. I *do* think he has skills that could translate right away and be a huge help to the team, and I also think his best skills likely require reps in the NBA to further develop (not practice or the g league). If his confidence gets shattered, then maybe he'll need a g league stint, but otherwise I'm not sure there's much point in putting him there. But I'm a software engineer with zero experience coaching and developing NBA talent. So what do I know? Ime and crew probably know what they're doing (unless Nix gets the starting job).
If Green has so much trouble scoring efficiently, Amen is going to be shooting sub 40 percent from the field no doubt. He can make up for it by making the right passes and rebound well, but I imagine a lot of trouble scoring inside and outside the paint
Best player plays, that is where we are now as a team, no more playing rookies that haven't earned it, or don't deserve it, if Amen is better than KPJ he starts, if not, he sits. DD
KPJ would start next to Amen since you need good catch and shoot players around him and Amen has size to (theoretically) guard 3's. On paper, Amen Green KPJ Jabari Sengun doesn't sound too bad. It's really only a problem if Sengun doesn't continue to develop his 3pt% but I'm a believer in his mechanics to make it at least serviceable / respectable. The real question is if Udoka can reign in KPJ to play to his strengths. That will be the player that will need to sacrifice the most.
I think KPJ is a really good shooter and a secondary playmaker and I believe Sengun will expand his offense game because he will working on his outside shot.
