Exclusive All things Amen Thompson

I haven't followed this debate closely, but it seems that even Amen advocates are admitting his shot is broken. While they hold out a little hope he can repair it, there main arguments is that his freakish athleticism will offset his broken shot and give him the value worth investing a 3rd pick on. Is that a fair observation?

if it is, can anybody point to other examples of wings with broken shots becoming all-star level players? Will Amen be like Justice Winslow or Evan Turner? Or are people hoping he'll be a SF version of Draymond Green? It just seems that there is a really low ceiling on wings who can't shoot

 

Not sure who to compare him to but Winslow and Turner were/are not freak athletes. Maybe Lonzo like others have suggested.

 

to me, that still does not make it much better. Joe Alexander was a freak athlete; Tyrus Thomas was a freak athlete; so was Thomas Robinson. Their careers were short.

now, while Amen may lack shooting skill, perhaps he has other real basketball skills? That said, he obviously has a major flaw, and that flaw happens to be the most important NBA skill. So, it sure seems that investing a 3rd pick in him has an extremely high bust factor

 

Simmons.

 

Outstanding sounds like a stretch, at best I see him as a PG13, Brown, Booker kind of playmaker, guys who can get around 5apg because they are primary scorers and have the ball in their hands a lot of the time. That's not a bad thing though. Ausar and Shae would be an excellent duo to build around. Both guys can seemingly do it all on both ends of the court.

 

The difference between Amen and the wings who couldn’t/can’t shoot is
1. High-level passing with the ability to contort his body in the air to make even more-high-level passes.
2. Tight handle.
3. Incredible quickness/speed.

Some approximations might be Ben Simmons, John Wall, or Russell Westbrook, with currently less shooting than Wall or Westbrook.
But, in comparison to Wall and Westbrook, Amen is 6’7” with a 7-foot-wingspan, and has the potential to defend positions 1-3 at an All Defense level and the ability on help defense to protect the rim.

 

"high-level passing"....ok, maybe, probably. But again, there have been several wings before who could pass really well but had busted shots, and because of that flaw never came close to all-star level

"contort his body in the air to make even more-high-level passes"....you've just described an NBA turnover

"tight handle"...I'll take your word for it

"Incredible quickness/speed"....along with beastly athleticism those seem to be common praises for him. A lot of players have had those traits and been out of the league in their 20's

Maybe Amen will be the exception to a not-so-basic rule. Maybe he has enough skills to offset his broken shot. Maybe he'll fix his shot (kind of rare). Like I said, it sure seems like Amen advocates are kind of banking on him being a SG/SF version of Draymond. And maybe that's a valid hope. I really don't know. I do know I don't have enough aptitude to really gauge a player's NBA potential before I see him on an NBA floor against NBA competition. I can point to apparent flaws and apparent strengths, but putting it all together in full analysis & projection is above my pay grade

my sense, at this point, is that if Amen is truly worthy of the 3rd pick I'm either way way off in my opinion of him or this draft class is bad

 

Even with all the open gym qualifiers aside, the shot looks better. Especially on the move / fading away. Still some alignment and release point issues to work through on the spot up though.

 

He's a way better athlete and passer than all these "broken jumper" wing comps.

That matters....a lot

 

Is it just me or does this new jump shot resemble that of Brandon Miller, or is it just the foot work? Seems similar.

 

look at that...he never misses!

 

Not the point

 

He’s a point guard.

If you’re looking for a SG/SF draft his brother.

Playing him at any other position than point negates some of his value.

He has elite passing AND athleticism.

It’s hard to come up with comps for him because he has such a rare combination.

6’7 PG, elite defense, elite passing, elite athleticism/finishing but can’t shoot.

It’s like Cade Cunningham meets Ben Simmons meets Russell Westbrook.

But, as I’ve said, drafting him at 3 is tough because of his shooting.

But Scoot is arguably gonna go ahead of him and he’s miniature sized and can’t shoot.

 

Scottie pippen

 

I've started honing in on my draft opinions and for the most part we are aligned in our views. I am not a big Miller guy... I hope he goes #2 and would select others over him at #3. I really like Ausar and Walker who are currently projected 5 and lower, so I see value in trading back though you don't get to a team in the lotto needing a PG until the Wizards at #8... what do you think of Hendricks?

I'm curious why you think the Rockets would want Scoot when Porter was really nice running the show for them last year being arguably their best player? If I'm them, one of the Thompsons is a better option today and tomorrow.

STOMP

 

I think Amen tops out higher than Cade, but that’s just me!

 

The more I think about it, the more I think so too.

 

Looks good in the video. But I've seen Nurk never miss 3's. 17 in a row stuff. And while Nurk has improved bigtime, i wouldn't consider him consistent just yet. That being said, there's time for the young man to improve his shot going forward. Practice makes perfect.

 

One thing in the NBA that could help Amen is the newly instituted Take Foul. No longer could a quick steal be stopped without a play on the ball. He’s got such quickness that it may even be hard to commit a take foul.

 

If I'm the Rockets, I would be targeting Ausar with whatever it takes. I see him being Scottie Pippen lite with his length, ability to run an offense, defensive versatility and an outside shoot that isn't great, but has to be respected. I like Ausar's attitude a lot better, too.