Just for clarity, please read my post from above where I compare Amen to Ben Simmons and compliment him as “extremely skilled” defensively and passing. No doubt that he is special in those areas, but the question was if he’s worth the 4th pick without the outside shot and if he averages 8-10 points a game. Fair question to ask and the answer may be “Yes” if the coaches can eventually get him to 20-25% threes, but that’s not a given.
Without him we don't win the game. He does a great job running the offense. His shot still needs to be fixed, set point is too low. He still remains a threat with his elite first step and high iq.
Understand that Green is underperforming, but didn’t he have like six 30+ point games in a row lst year at one stretch. He has issues that they are attempting to address (turnovers, bad defense, low bb iq) so this is almost like his rookie year where he’s learning to play smart versus dumb and is struggling with it. Think the fans should give him the same lengthy rope they are giving Amen for his outside shooting woes. Like him or not, Jalen has the rare skill that he can score with ease. We’d miss his offense if dumped for a mid first rounder.
I think the answer here is "yes if he learns how to shoot, otherwise no" and I don't think its any more complicated than that. And it was the same for Ben Simmons. When you pick players like this you're basically gambling on whether or not they learn how to shoot, you're taking a chance. You hope that they have it in them to learn how to shoot, and you hope that your coaching staff can bring it out. I guess there's some remote chance he turns into "tall Rondo" and that's still a good player but I really think it all comes down to him learning how to shoot.
I wonder how many seasons of Jalen proving that he in fact cannot score with ease, before this theory dies in a quiet heap just like the Jalen is a gym junkie theory did.
Jalen has played 184 games at an average of 32.5 min a game. Some people say give him another year to decide if he's a bust. Meanwhile Amen had only played 22 games, averaging 15.7 min a game. We'd have to double his minutes and give him another 162 games to give him the experience Jalen has been gifted, and then compare their progress or make a decision whether he's a bust.
I know it sounds stupid, but define “learning how to shoot”. The reason I ask is that a number of people seem to have a different idea of what it means pertaining to Amen Thompson. Does he need to be a 38% three point shooter? If he shoots in the low 30’s like Morant, is that good enough? What if he becomes a good mid range shooter but is a poor three point shooter? I would love him to learn to shoot 38% from 3 on 8 attempts a game - but I don’t think he has to. I think he has to find a spot on the floor where he shoots close to 50% and make 3-4 buckets a game there and he will be very good. He already shoots at an elite level at the basket, and his 3-10 foot percentage is going up and is close to being good. The problem is that he is horrific on 3’s and midrange. He is oddly hitting 20 footers. Im a lot more confident about him learning to be a 50% shooter from 15 feet than 38% from 3.
Amen has earned his 15-20 minutes a game. He was very nervous until the last 15-20 games…. He does a lot of things well, and I think his passing and handle will improve the more he plays. The issue is his shot, and I am not sure how much he will benefit playing heavy minutes until he improves his shot.
His offense is really really poor. I actually don’t know if it’s the offense or lack of confidence in handles but it’s 4 on 5 with him on offense. It’s like watching a smaller worse version of Ben Simmons.
Personally, I am just not sure why he is playing so much when he is not the primary ball handler. it doesn’t really make a ton of sense to me to have him be off ball when Jalen or Fred are handling it.
He is a really bad 3 PT shooter. That hurts. I have no idea if that would change with time. I'm not sure why they drafted him #1 if he couldn't shoot 3's well in college either. That being said, he has a 45% FG and Jalen is under 40% for the year in FG%.
You immediately see that Amen at this young of an age is a high IQ player, I have faith he is going to be a solid NBA player.
It's actually not stupid - it's a great question because you got me thinking about this in a way I hadn't before. My first thought here is just that he has to become good enough from somewhere on the court that he has to be guarded. It could be 3s, or midrange, or whatever. As long as you can't guard him with the Ben Simmons defense I think i would count that. But it's a great question and I'm not entirely sure.
