Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

100% this. Scottie is the Raptors best player and they are within a 1/2 game of the 9th seed in the EAST. For that he is paid $38 million a year!

You can't win anything if guys like Scottie and Amen are your franchise players. The Rockets need to be smart and offer Amen something between Bari's number and Sengun's deal.

 

I don’t agree with this assessment and “significant” is subjective. Players continue to grow and for most the evolution isn’t overnight especially when you’re not a generational talent or dominant player.

I see Jabari’s handles are much better than first couple years. He dribbles lower, uses his body more for contact and he’s more aggressive driving. He’s more comfortable in his spots at the elbows or right inside the FT line.

Amen has also improved handling in the full court and playmaking.

I’ve seen Sheppard improve his defense getting low and in front of his man moving his feet. He’s also stopped wasted dribbling or shooting at awkward angles. He’s more decisive as well.

 

Amen is 22, played 22m a game in year 1 of 3. Scottie Barnes is 24, played 35m a game in 1 of 5. Amen was 1st team all defense his second year when he only started half the year, because of a dumbass coach. He will again be first team defense. You have an irrational hate for our best shot at a superstar. I hope Stone can get him for less than the max, but I seriously doubt it.

 

First of all, I don't hate anyone. It literally says that underneath everything I post.

Second, this thread is titled "Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player". I am only posting in this thread because I strongly disagree with that statement - no more, no less. I only care because I love the Rockets and I think it's dangerous to treat such a limited player (like Scottie Barnes) as your franchise player in terms of usage, salary, etc.

Finally, it should be obvious to anyone that you can't build a team around Amen. He is the exact opposite of a go-to guy on offense. And while he's a great individual defender he is not a defensive anchor - the Knicks game, the Wolves in OT, the Warriors on Sunday, each & every time a team runs us off the floor in the 4th, Amen is there.

You fail to understand that there are dozens of guys in the NBA that can stuff a box score if given 35+ minutes a night, but only a handful of players that can actually takeover a game - Scottie Barnes is not in that elite group, and neither is Amen. If either is your franchise player, then you are still looking for your franchise player.

 

Amen : much better handle, much stronger, great assist to turnover ratio, much less "drive in and jump and figure it out later", 78% from the FT line. If he continues to improve he will be our best player but maybe not our best scorer.

Jabari: real actual NBA handle now, more decisive, ppg up, understands positioning, stronger and will get stronger. Can't overstate this enough. When he does then it will get reallt difficult to not get one of Amen, Sengun or Jabari on a mismatch.

Reed: more sound defensively, better team defender, more measured with his swipes, more confident.

I haven't seen much progress from Sengun this year and I wont even bring up Tari. If you haven't seen improvement then you aren't looking. But things haven't changed. Amen is still our best shot at a game breaking star. For what its worth I dont think Durant is or ever has been. Chet and Wemby are proving to be much more effective versions of that archetype. Wonder why.

 

Scottie wasn’t asked to run that offense. Toronto actually has a couple of ball handlers. That makes things a lot easier for him. He’s not playing out of position. I don’t think the 1 to 1 comparison is accurate. Amen is a 3/4 who has been made to play the lead on-ball guard role. He’s more of a forward than a guard. Playing him out of position might have been good for his development long term, but it didn’t do him any favors for his stat line this season. Which again is why these statistical comparisons aren’t really appropriate. If he had been playing in the forward spots I sincerely believe the stats would bear out that he’s clearly a better player than Barnes.

I agree that you can’t build a team around a non-shooter, and I think it’s more than likely we don’t have our franchise player on our roster. I’ve been saying that our focus needs to be finding that franchise guy instead of pretending we have what we need to win now and in the future. But Amen is a legit star if he can develop a mid-range shot, which I believe he can. I also think a respectable corner 3 is more than possible.

Regardless of the “franchise player” debate, Amen is still our best prospect. And there is still a lot of untapped potential. I look forward to seeing Amen in a role that maximizes his strengths. Until then these Scottie Barnes comparisons miss the mark.

 

In terms of being our best prospect, I would say that Amen has the highest ceiling but a narrow path to reach it. Sengun can improve by becoming a consistent 3pt shooter. Bari can improve by becoming more consistent overall. And Reed just needs 10lbs of muscle. Those are all very realistic possibilities. But if Amen can consistently create and hit his own shot, then he would be the best of all four. But how likely is that?

 

I would suggest that he can already pretty consistently create his own shot, he's very good at creating space when he needs to and getting a pretty clean look on a midrange jumper. He just can't hit them efficiently (yet? You could be right in thinking he'll never figure it out, who knows).

 

I agree and I think thats a good comparable. The only difference is Amen is being asked to do more, plus this is his 3rd position change in 3yrs, whereas Scottie has been playing the same position since he entered the league.

So, if he got Alpi's contract or little higher, I wouldn't see it as an overpay

 

Spinning what? It’s 100% true the DPOY award is broken. I’m not even saying amen should win it. It rarely ever goes to the best on ball defender the voters value steals and blocks way to much which skews the vote towards help defenders. Tim Duncan having 0 DPOY awards is absolutely insane to me. Amen was given 1st team all defense so he’s very much respected.

 

A respected, premier top tier defender? Absolutely, 100% no question. Best defender in the league? Nope, and those who are better will get more votes for DPOY.

 

Yes, like every single player in the NBA, Alpi can improve by becoming a better 3-point shooter. What troubles me the most is when he plays soft, as if his mind isn't on the court. He doesn't want to dominate every single game. We never know which Alpi is going to show up. If/when that nonsense finally stops, Alpi will level up. He must become a reliable high-motor player ever single game.

Amen's motor is insane. What he needs to do is take his FT form and apply it to mid-range. If/when he starts hitting those shots, he'll vault to well over 20 ppg and defenses will change how they defend the Rockets.

Rockets need both of these guys to figure it out. One needs a heart transplant, the other needs to add a crucial, fundamental skill to his offensive arsenal.

 

I don't think he will - I think Ausaur will probably be first team defense and someone like Scottie Barnes might be 2nd team. There is a chance he makes 2nd team all defense - he is in the ballpark of the 10 best defenders in the league but there are a lot of guys in that range and although there is now positionless voting, I think there is complication to his candidacy with him having a twin just as good. People don't want to vote for too many players on the same team, or too many bigs and not enough wings, or vice versa, etc. I think this gets into the psychology of voters and then people start looking at stats to mitigate and bigs tend to gobble up more stats than guys like Amen. I can watch Amen DOMINATE on a given night but the stat line might just show a single steal for the night even though we know that doens't tell the whole story....and let's be honest - his defensive intensity dropped a little earlier in the year when he was asked to carry more of an offensive load. I think he figured it out eventually and is back to being in top form but I don't think he is a shoo-in at this point.

 

So...

The plan was for Amen to be the point guard this year, but the reality is that Sengun has to initiate the offense from the top of the key and lead the team in assists...

While he also has to anchor the defense despite being surrounded by Ime's all-forwards lineup who, regardless of their size and reputations, can't seem to slow anyone down...

While he is also getting double & tripled teamed on offense because many of those forwards can't shoot...

While he is also being constantly chewed out by the architect of said all-forwards lineup...

And while he is also being thrown under the bus by his HOF teammate.

Through all of this Sengun made the All-Star team but hasn't lived up to your expectations.

Meanwhile, Amen is significantly down from last year in FG%, 3pt%, and rebounds while also having less steals and less blocks than (*checks notes*) Reed Sheppard who plays (*checks notes again*) 11 minutes less per game than Amen. But despite all of that, Amen is enjoying career highs in minutes and shot attempts because of... heart?

 

Amen holds back a lot. Especially in 1-1 situations he plays too passive deferring Sengun and Durant. The potential is definitely there. The shooting is just disappointing. Hopefully he improves his bag in year 4.

 

Amen is a winner, mature and professional, hard worker, and continues to improve.

Whenever he's on the court, knows and does what it takes for his team to outscore and beat the opposing team.

First in the league in total minutes

FIrst among Rockets starters in Net Rating and BPM

Only 2nd to KD in Win Shares

Last 20 games:
19.7 PTS per gm
57.6 FG%
36.8 3FG%
63,4 TS%
5.6 FTAs per gm (almost ties KD as teams #1)
76.6 FT%
5.3 AST per gm
1.8 TOV per gm
2.94 ATO ratio

I know he's not perfect and he initially had difficulty replacing FVV as the starting PG.

But I'm not gonna bet against Amen's being able to do whatever takes to win espcially in the playoffs.

Call me a homer. I just want the rockets to win and reach the farthest possible in the playoffs.

 

No. Outside of KD Amen is our best player and needs to be paid like it

 

Those FTA and assist-turnover ratios are similar to players that went on to be option 1A on a championship caliber team.

He doesn’t fit the traditional model, but he’s right there impact wise.