Nah, never said that Ben Simmons was his ceiling, only pointing out similarities at that age as a warning to not get too carried away and pass on other opportunities as they may present themselves. BTW, apologies for assuming you were younger based on your Joined date. Still, I was at the Phi Slamma Jamma games, so I do pull rank, but much respect to you nevertheless.
Just needs to play with people who carry the scoring load. He's there for 3's, assists, size. He'd be much more open here than as the main man on the Pacers, will get consistent pretty quickly. Feel like people wanted him to be a superstar but I'm just ok with who he is as a fit for our team.
A lot of the reason I think people are so high on Amen has to do with his intangibles--he's shown marked improvement over his rookie season and appears to be one of the most hardworking, coachable, basketball-loving young guys in the league. A lot of the times when you get a young player with this type of potential and he turns out to be a disappointment, there are character issues at play. Zion and Simmons being the obvious recent examples; Ja Morant to some degree (albeit not as bad). I think we can pretty safely cross that roadblock off the list of potential obstacles for Amen, and that's a big deal. The next obvious thing that could stand in the way of him becoming a star player would be the jump shot. But I'm already this close to being ready to cross that off as a concern given the improvements he's already made to his shooting. He isn't there yet, but it doesn't look like he'll be one of those guys who just has no shooting touch and never manages to make meaningful improvements. Now, whether he plateaus as a barely-passable shooter or becomes an average-or-better one--that might be the line between stardom and superstardom. The last possible roadblock is injury. That's something which can derail any player's career though. Maybe it's a bit more likely when you're a hyper-athlete with a roaring motor, but I'm not going to waste my time obsessing about it, you can't truly predict when the injury bug will bite and when it won't. So for me--I'm not trading him for anybody who's not in the top 5 to 7 players in the league, and even then I'm trying every other possible package first before I reluctantly include him.
What about his 33 vs Celts in similar minutes? If you're going to cherry pick a game why not one where he was actually involved?
Jalen Green has better advanced stats than everyone on this graph at the same stages of their careers.
During the losing streak, Amen was asked to do more and he responded by delivering less. Again, I'm not saying he can't develop into a star. I'm just saying let's all take a breath here.
Are you seriously pinning 6 game losing streak on Amen? Amen Thompson has averaged a True Shooting Percentage (TS%) of around 65.3% over his last 7 games, often accompanied by a double-double with significant scoring and rebounding production, not to mention averaging almost 4 stocks during period. Amen has more than carried his weight as a starter.
I know people will call me crazy but I have soured on Devin Booker. He is making super max money but unlike Jokic and SGA he can't carry the team to wins without KD. And he is 28, supposed to be in his absolute prime but still gets cleared by 36 yr old KD. And again he is making the super max I feel like Rox are gonna get worse if we get him cuz then we wont be able to pay the rest of the team. Whats even worse is if you compare him to JG at the same age they have identical stats, like right now 22/23 yr old Booker has 3% higher TS but 3% lower 3 pt. But then if not Booker who is the next target? Ant? Trae Young? I am not sure but for me Booker ain't it.
i'm sure there was a deal on the table for Stone to take him and he balked. We have all the leverage right now.
Amen and Sengun will be Rockets for the next decade+. They have proven themselves. Everyone else is tradeable but I do not want Booker.
I wouldn't trade Amen for anyone in the league. I would trade Sengun for Jokic, Ant, or Giannis, but no one else.
Given that the Suns kept KD past the deadline, then they're not going to trade Booker this offseason. Their 2026 pick is already gone so there's zero incentive for them to tank next year. Which makes 2027 the most obvious year they would trade Booker. But by then he will be age 30 with 2 years/$118mil left on his contract. That is also one year away from Amen Thompson getting his max and the Rockets may hitting the second apron soon depending on how much they're giving Jabari/Tari/Cam. So yeah, even if Booker is a future Rocket, it's not gonna be as fun as one may think.
I don't think they trade Booker this off-season unless we give them a monster deal, but then they would've given up this year's pick and given that they suck this year they would be un-intentionally tanking again next year, unless Durant gets them a haul, which I doubt.
I've changed my mind on Sengun. If we could sign Naz Reid. I would trade Sengun for several really good players to round out our roster with shooters. I suggest JJJ and Kennard. Then sign Utah Collins and Malik Beasley, 2 more FA's. Surrounding Amen with shooters that are also plus defenders is how to build a championship team. Amen, Jalen, Jarbari, Collins, Reid. Bench FVV, Beasley, Kennard, Dillon, Landale or Adams.
