If the Houston Rockets are headed into the 2024-2025 season with a “full deck” then Amen Thompson is definitely the wildcard.
On a roster that is rich with young talent in multiple positions, head coach Ime Udoka has described Amen Thompson as a player that “checks every box.” One you can “plug and play” in any of those positions on the floor. With his height, athleticism, willingness to defend all over the court, his ability to finish at the rim, his rebounding, ball handling, and ability to distribute the ball, Amen demonstrated last season why Udoka is comfortable putting him on the floor with any other combination of the players on the roster.
Amen averaged 9.5 ppg, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and just over half a block in 22.4 minutes per game during his rookie campaign.
His work in the offseason has many around league looking at Amen as someone ready to make big strides this upcoming season. During Rockets Media Day some of his teammates were asked about him specifically and what they thought of his offseason and how he looks coming into training camp.
Fred Vanvleet:
“I don’t know if it’s because it’s summer time and there’s no referees and he can just run everybody over… he actually looks bigger, stronger, faster, more confident, more under control. He definitely doesn’t look like a rookie anymore… He looks poised to have another big year.”
Jabari Smith: (Regarding Amen’s play on the USA Select team and his growth over the summer)
“He plays the same no matter who he’s playing against.. no matter if it’s practice… whatever it is, his competitivness (and fearlessness) is something I admire about him. Teammates love him… Everyone knows how talented he is, but talent can only get you so far. He’s got the (right) mindset. He’s gonna be good. That’s why you can see him thrive against players like (the USA Select team) because he’s on that level.”
When he was asked about his offseason Amen said:
“I feel different… I’m improving, my body and in basketball… My focus was to just get a lot better through the summer… working on everything… shooting, ball handling, being a leader, just trying to be the best player I can be going into this year.”
Amen made the comment earlier in the offseason that there were no hard matchups for him going up against Team USA. Clearly he is heading into the season with a lot of confidence and that’s a good thing. The only real question mark for Amen is his outside shooting. While he posted a shooting percentage of 53.6 percent from the field, he was only 13 percent from behind the arc, attempting less than one three-point shot per game. As we all know, shooting is at a premium in this league, and as good as he was as a rookie, the inability to knock down open shots from the outside reeked havoc on floor spacing for the Rockets as teams began just leaving him alone completely outside the paint.
Thompson said he’s made strides on his jump shot mechanics by working with the Rockets coaching staff on “finding what works best for me.” Hopefully that translates to at minimum becoming a slightly below average three-point shooter, which would be an improvement for Amen.
There is no doubt though, if the Houston Rockets are gonna become a playoff team, Amen Thompson’s fingerprint will need to be on the game every time he is on the floor. I get chills thinking of him running the break with Jalen Green on one side and Cam Whitmore on the other, with Alperen Sengun trailing behind. Or him playing the pick-and-roll with either Alpi, or Steven Adams. With this team loaded with so many good young players, I don’t know how many minutes Amen will average, but he should be a part of multiple lineup combinations, him being so versatile.
There are players in this league that have been able to be successful without being knockdown three-point shooters. However, there are some who improved to the point of being serviceable, (Jason Kidd later in his career comes to mind) and then there are those who just never developed the shooting touch and kept relying on their athleticism. Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons immediately come to mind as players who for whatever reason have not been able to develop a consistent jump shot.
Rockets fans are hoping Amen Thompson will be more like the former rather than the latter, however this season I don’t think we should be expecting him to shoot 40 percent or better from the line. The best way for him to utilize his minutes would be to become an elite defender on the perimeter and in the paint, give apposing teams fits in the pick-and-roll, and run, run, run as much as possible, attacking the rim relentlessly. We hopefully will see improvement in his free throw shooting as well, as I expect he will be getting to the line quite a bit.
Amen Thompson is a true wildcard this season. It will be exciting to see how coach Udoka chooses to use this Swiss army knife of a player. One thing is for certain. The kid isn’t lacking in confidence and his work ethic has earned him the respect of his teammates and coaches.