I'm not convinced that he's a guard or a forward yet ..... but he really needs to be playing starters minutes - 32ish a game if not more. The advanced stats show just how impactful he is - dude plays winning basketball even with the poor shooting and he does it from literally any position. He has to be on the floor ....
30+ mins/game is quite possible for Amen not only because of how he impacts games, but because I believe the Rockets will give him plenty of slack to develop at the point position. FVV just cannot be forced to play 37 mins again this year.
It is not mutually exclusive, he is both and the earlier he embraces it the earlier he is getting used to his skillset. I feel there is a legion of forwards like Flagg coming into this league so yes playing as a guard has more perks for him.
He's a wing based on what? Size, positional skills, where he plays on defense, where he plays on offense? That's the ultimate question here - his position(like that of many good players) is relative - to the offensive system we run, the defense we are employing, who else is on the court at the same time as him, etc. He can slide into both forward and both guard slots and probably could even play center against weaker bigs(like Bol Bol) and maybe even larger bigs if he gets stronger because of his length and quick leaping ability. His shooting is really the biggest thing holding him back right now but I wouldn't be shocked if Udoka spent the offseason trying to figure out how OKC was effective with Westbrook as a non shooter in his prime because Amen has that type of ability to physically impose himself despite shooting deficiencies.
Based on his inability to shoot, the fact that he thrives in a dunker role, and the fact that the team already has 2 better actual PG's. Imo that is what makes him more of a forward than a guard.
I'm not sure this is the case after drafting Sheppard. I'm guessing Sheppard will get a ton, if not the majority, of the backup PG minutes.
But OKC wasn't that good, I don't consider a team that gets ran out of the 1st round in 5 games to a James Harden lead unit a team to aspire to. Those OKC teams never got out of the 1st round at all.
I think you're quite mistaken, particularly to start the season. Early on (if not the entire season) Sheppard will play off the ball. Eventually things will sort out and we'll see.
I expect Amen and Sheppard will share the backcourt a bit. Sheppard will play PG on defense and SG on offense in that scenario. I can’t imagine the Rockets are going to wait until they have to make a quick decision on FVV to get Amen reps at his future position.
As the season moved forward in his rookie year the more he transitioned from being a guard to a wing/big. I wouldn't be surprised if that trend continues and the team utilizes him more as a wing/roll man/dunker spot player on offense and the players that have the most on ball reps would be FVV, Jalen and Reed. Amen's best games of his rookie year came from laying SF/C, not pg. Ime will go with what works optimally for the team on offense.
If we are talking WB, he had the motor but lacked enough skills and above all shooting..... But nobody is perfect....some are in the basketball sense though.
FVV’s biggest issue as a Pg is the inability to get to and finish at the rim. I think Reed is going to have the same issue. Jalen and Amen are way more explosive and I expect Amen will continue to improve his handle. Amen will be getting a lot of time at SF (hopefully starting, but I doubt it to start the year), but no way will the Rockets wait a year to get him a significant amount of minutes initiating the offense. Reed is a great shooter and looks to be a decent passer, but in today’s nba guards really need to have the explosiveness to get into the lane and finish not to mention how good a defensive player both FVV and Amen are. Also, I really doubt seriously Reed gets more than 10 mins a game this year and mostly in garbage time.
I agree with you that Reed probably isn't going to get heavy minutes until maybe post all-star break especially if some major shake up happens like Green being traded. Ime might experiment with spot minutes with Amen as a PG at the beginning of the season but more than likely at the beginning of the season Jalen will handle the brunt of the back up lead ball handler duties behind Fred with their minutes staggered. But if Amen does show improvement in his handles enough in those spot trial minutes at PG he can definitely expand his role as a lead guard this following season.
Guess what, he played the point all his life even if his mind is that of a shooting guard who could not shoot. In hindsight, his MVP was the best he could achieve but it was more that of an individual stats award and not a team award. He couldn't lead a playoffs team.....we found out.
