The Rockets have made their biggest bet yet on Amen Thompson.
Houston has officially locked in Thompson on a five-year, $208 million rookie-scale extension, according to the NBA transaction log, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting that the contract includes a 10 percent trade kicker. At $41.6 million per year, it’s a massive number for a player who put up 18.3 points last season - but the money isn’t really about scoring alone.
Thompson has already carved out a reputation as one of the league’s top defenders, and he backed that up by earning first-team All-Defensive honors in 2024-25. Last season, the 23-year-old led the NBA with 2,953 minutes while posting career highs of 18.3 points, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals. Houston also looked much stronger with him on the floor, with a plus-6.6 net rating compared to plus-1.6 when he sat.
So this deal is part reward, part projection. The Rockets aren’t paying for the version of Thompson they have right now. They’re paying for the one they think is still coming.
In Miami, the backcourt picture may not be finished yet.
NBA insider Jake Fischer said during a Bleacher Report live stream that the Heat have “some internal interest” in adding a veteran guard. Former Heat guard Gabe Vincent still has supporters inside the organization and among Miami players, though Fischer said a reunion is not viewed as the most likely outcome. He also shut down the idea that Kyrie Irving is a realistic trade target for the Heat at this stage.
Miami does still have flexibility, with room beneath its hard cap to carry a 15th player. That leaves the door open for another smaller move.
Charlotte, meanwhile, keeps cycling through its final roster spot.
The Hornets announced the signing of guard Jarkel Joiner and waived Kyle Mangas, continuing a string of moves tied to the last spot on their 21-man offseason roster. Joiner averaged 10.9 points and 3.6 assists in 49 games for Raptors 905 last season, and these transactions are largely aimed at filling out the Greensboro Swarm.
Charlotte has used the same sign-and-waive approach with Josiah Allick, Trey Townsend and now Mangas this week, giving players a chance to secure Exhibit 10 bonuses worth as much as $91,000 if they spend at least 60 days with Greensboro. Joiner’s G League rights belong to Raptors 905, so another move would be needed before he could end up with the Swarm.
In Other News...
Hornets Latest Roster Move Comes With An Unexpected Greensboro Catch
The Hornets kept churning through their offseason roster this week, adding another name as part of a familiar pattern of sign-and-waive moves designed to help steer players toward Greensboro. It has become a useful way for Charlotte to stock the Swarm with talent while keeping flexibility at the NBA level, and the latest addition brings a guard with recent G League and Canadian Elite Basketball League experience into the mix.
Jarkel Joiner is the player at the center of this one, though getting him to the Swarm is not quite as simple as handing him a jersey. His G League rights are still tied up with the Raptors 905, which means Charlotte would need to deal for those rights before he can suit up in Greensboro, leaving one more step unresolved in a process that has become a regular offseason wrinkle for the Hornets. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Just Chose A Painful Path Fans Will Be Debating For Years
The offseason brought a franchise-altering decision in Charlotte, one that immediately changed the conversation around the Hornets. Moving on from LaMelo Ball is the kind of step that usually comes with a clear direction, and in this case the organization chose a path aimed less at the present than at what comes next.
For now, the downside is hard to ignore. The Hornets are bracing for short-term pain, including the real possibility of fewer wins and a rougher on-court product, because the payoff is supposed to come later in the form of extra draft capital and more flexibility to reshape the roster. Whether that gamble ultimately looks visionary or costly will be judged over the coming years, not the next few weeks. [Read more 🡒]
How Kobe Pushed For The Lakers Before A Draft Night Twist
Arn Tellem, Kobe Bryants original agent, recently revisited one of the most famous draft-night maneuvers in NBA history, a sequence that changed the course of the league and still echoes through Charlottes draft lore. The New Jersey Nets were set to take Bryant with the eighth pick in 1996, but Tellem helped steer the conversation toward the Lakers, where Jerry West was working to make sure Bryant landed in Los Angeles.
Wests answer was to line up a trade with Charlotte for the 13th pick, a move that kept Bryant within reach when the Lakers feared the draft board might not break their way. What followed became one of the defining swings of the era, as Bryants arrival set the stage for the championship core he later formed with Shaquille ONeal, while the Hornets place in the deal remained one of the drafts most enduring footnotes. [Read more 🡒]