Amen Thompson is the Rockets' REAL franchise player

Adelman and DAntoni have very different offensive concepts. D'Antoni relies heavily on a PG that can attack and shoot to create. Both his successful teams in Phoenix (Nash) and Houston (Harden) have that guy. Amen wouldn't be very good in MDA's team.

Adelman uses a passing big man at the high post with a lot of movements and cutting. Amen would thrive in Adelman's offense as a cutter. Sengun would be the hub. If Chuck Hayes could be that hub, Sengun would do wonders. Adelman would be the kind of coach that could make Sengun and Amen work well together.

 

Under a D'Antoni offense, I suspect Amen would play a lot of small ball 5 (or play power forward alongside a stretch 5) and kind of function how a young Capela did alongside Harden. He would be a defense-oriented roleplayer basically. Wouldn't maximize his strengths but he'd still be a very good player on both ends.

 

Both of those guys coached a lot of teams and many different players. I wouldn't pigeonhole them into just the styles of the teams they had the most success with. Adelman's most successful tenure arguably wasn't even with the Kings, he took the Blazers to the finals twice and there weren't passing big man there. If Amen could get a midrange shot maybe he could be a bit like Clyde. And D'antoni utilized Boris Diaw as a passing frontcourt player that couldn't shoot. Maybe Amen would be a more athletic version of that archetype as well.

 

i can see him working on a role like that, but then we would have to trade alpi and surround amen with shooters. we would also be stuck playing small ball in a league where wemby, jokic and chet are a thing.

with the right personnel it would be very entertaining and possibly even a threat to win it all. trade alpi for a strech big who can guard 5's (easier said than done) and use our picks to solidify the bench and maybe it's worth a shot. i'm open to the idea, as long as we trade alpi in that scenario.

 

I see him more as a mix between Amare Stoudemire and Draymond Green under MDA offensively.

 

2nd most minutes in the NBA and the highest net rating on the team but if they don't see him in highlight clips and ESPN the fanbase is lost about his value.

 

He'd be Draymond. Except faster, taller and level headed (ish).

Funny because everyone runs to hire Popovich guys but a D'antoni guy won 4 titles a very different way.

 

Reed would be the star in Dantonis offense

 

I'm hoping he learns to shoot that ball real soon and picks up a way deeper bag. I love the guy and think he's rediculous but time creeps up on all of us and that speed and athleticsm won't always be there. A franchise player is someone that we can build around and has longevity. In todays nba without that 3ball guy will eventually turn into a liability on offense. Great player. Probably my fav player on the team with eason and reed but he has to get better at shooting or that ceiling of potential will quickly fade.

 

He’s 23.

 

True, but he hasn't really shown any improvement in 3 years, that's not a great sign.

 

Playing out of position, crippled by poor coaching.

He has actually improved as a handler and passer to the point he could be a serviceable 2nd- or 3rd-unit PG, though. No leap like we thought might happen, and even a little defensive regression.

 

It's crazy people even contemplate him ever becoming a competent distance shooter. He's not just bad, he's absolutely horrific if we compare him to actual NBA guards. 13.8% 27.5% and 20.6% should not suggest any promise in future improvement. He's a wing, or a massively undersized big based on his actual offensive skill set.

 

He’s had 1 1/2 years starting. His ft% improved dramatically and in case you haven’t noticed his form and results on his 10-15 ft jumper is improving game to game. Most of it is confidence. I expect next year he will be very good from the mid-level. To be a superstar he will need to get a 3 pt shot, but, again, he is 23 with an incredible work ethic. He’ll get there. He is also only playing the initiator role maybe 25% of the time, if that, and averaging the same assists as FVV last year and is 2nd to Sengun in assists and expected assists with way less usage. Anybody saying his handles haven’t improved are just lost in their own rhetoric. Reed is the main recipient of his drive and dish game, so I would think you would be happy about that, but, of course, none of that would suit your pre-conceived notion of what Amen is and will always be.

 

Learning to shoot a basketball isn't a thing you need to start to do.

 

No matter your position, shooting a basketball is shooting a basketball.

Perhaps poor coaching could hurt though.