[IKO] Amen Thompson to undergo MRI. Left arena in walking boot and crutches.

nah don’t rush him

 

Wow! Any rumors on that already?

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba...conference-contender/78c69c3c5b7958e81cf30a9a

 

jater

 

While I largely agree with you on being incredibly high on Amen, I've just never really agreed with this comp for a number of reasons. For what it's worth, here they are:

1. Completely different era of basketball. Magic played right at the beginning of the 3P era, and basketball was just dramatically different then. I usually try to avoid comping back to players too far back for this reason, it's just too hard to even compare the sport itself apples-to-apples.

2. Magic was quite possibly the best passer in NBA history. Amen is really good, but he has not shown many signs of having Magic's preternatural court vision. I tend to fall somewhere in between you and the guys who are like "he's just Iguodala" on this topic. I think he is going to be a well-above-average passer in the NBA, certainly good enough to run the offense through him, but I don't think he will be one of the best assist guys of all time. I think he peaks around 8, maybe 9 assists per game.

3. Magic actually wasn't an elite NBA athlete. He was of course very athletic, but he was much closer to the NBA average than Amen is. He did it moreso with craft and size than by outrunning/outjumping/out-twitching everybody else. It limited his peak scoring potential, but it also ties into...

4. ...Magic was a solid defensive player, ranging to very good at his peak, but defense wasn't really his calling card or the main source of his value. I think Amen is going to be one of those star players whose defense is really important to his overall value.

For me, I think Amen is more of a guy whose chance at superstardom is going to depend on developing a jump shot. If he does, I think he can easily score 24-25 a game and drop 8+ dimes and 8+ boards while playing All-NBA defense. He'll be more focused on scoring and defense and less focused on passing than Magic. There is no 1 to 1 modern comparison, but the closest guy is probably LeBron (I am not saying Amen will be as good as peak LeBron or certainly that his career will be as long and consistent, I doubt either of those things happens).

If the jump shot never comes around, I think both his scoring and his assist numbers are going to take a hit. He might still be able to play point guard but he will be less effective at it. I think in that case he's more like a 17, 7, and 8 guy. I don't think there's ever been a player like that in NBA history. Maybe Ben Simmons in terms of raw stats, but their mindset and the way they get it done is very different. I think he will become a shooter though so I'm not too worried about this outcome.

 

Amen the real MVP... one day hopefully