Amen Thompson Is The Future
Does Houston need to trade for a Giannis when it already has one?
In his essay on watching Roger Federer, David Foster Wallace talks about sporting beauty as having to do with “human beings’ reconciliation with the fact of having a body.” That line came back to me as I watched Amen Thompson during the seven-game punch up between his Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. Sometimes, Thompson pulls off moves that can only be appreciated upon repeat viewing. Like the time in Game 5 when he limboed right under Quinten Post’s contest.
Thompson goes all the way around Post and shoots the layup on his way down there.
During a stretch where he brought the Rockets back into Game 7, Thompson busted out this highlight, beating all five Warriors players on the floor on a single drive:
De’Aaron Fox, one of the quicker players around, thinks Thompson may be one of the best athletes to have stepped on an NBA floor.
Fox isn’t alone; the Warriors started treating Thompson in transition as a five-alarm fire. Watch Draymond Green hustle to get behind the ball here and help Buddy Hield form a wall:
Credit Thompson there for cutting to the rim as soon as Hield turns his head, getting an uncontested dunk out of it. Thompson is a canny cutter; even savvy off ball defenders like Jimmy Butler III were caught napping by Thompson in the recently concluded series. Thompson scored 1.36 points per possession on cuts this past season. More remarkable: Thompson was the only non-center in the top 20.1
Back to Thompson in transition: Houston added 1.5 points/100 in transition with Thompson on the floor versus off, per Cleaning the Glass. For a Houston team that often struggled to score, those extra transition points were worth a lot. Watching Thompson in transition reminds me of Giannis Antetokounmpo. When the defense doesn’t build a wall, Thompson finds his way to the rim. Watch him bump a backpedaling Butler off his spot to create space for a layup:
Squint and you might glimpse Giannis there.
Thompson played within himself this past season. He scores an efficient 1.21 points per shot attempt per Cleaning the Glass. 56% of Thompson’s shots came at the rim, attempts on which he shot a Lebron-esque 72% (97th percentile in the league for his position.) Thompson’s jump shot is his weakness and he knows it; just 11% of Thompson’s attempts came from beyond the arc. His jump shooting shortcomings have limited Thompson’s usage; at 18%, it screams role player more than star.
Then again, Thompson may be athletic enough and apply enough rim pressure to mitigate those limitations. Again, without getting hyperbolic, the comp here may be Giannis. Thompson will always be a threat in the dunker spot, as a roll man, cutting from the weak side, and hoovering up opportunities in transition.
Although he rarely has the ball in his hands for extended stretches, Thompson has flashed intriguing passing vision and decision making. The ball barely sticks in his hands here before it finds the rolling Alperen Şengün for a dunk:
Unlike many downhill drivers, Thompson also has the composure to keep his head up and scan for shooters. I don’t know what’s more impressive here, the half beat that Thompson pauses to give Jabari Smith Jr. the change to set his feet, or the pass landing squarely in Smith’s shooting pocket:
If Giannis sounds hyperbolic, how about a hyper athletic Andre Iguodala who connects things on offense, brings death in the short roll, and is also a killer defender?
Speaking of which: I haven’t touched on Thompson’s defense here, partly because he is already well established as one of the best defenders in the league. Thompson hounded Steph Curry all series, to the point where Jaden McDaniels may actually feel like a break (what a world) in the next round. He forced turnovers, denied Steph the ball, fought around screens, and blew up the Warriors’ beautiful game off-ball actions. Thompson is a lock to make one of the All Defense Teams this season. Expect to see him and his twin brother Ausar dominate the league as defenders for years to come.
It’s on the other side of the ball that I remain tantalized though. The Rockets need some offensive juice and that finding that is expected to be one of their offseason priorities. How quickly Thompson finds and busts through his ceiling on that end could determine what Houston does (or more likely, does not) need to do. With what Thompson has shown the Rockets may be able to get away with a more incremental move than many pundits are clamoring for.
Minimum of 2 such possessions per game.