Amen Thompson already looks like one of the Rockets’ brightest young pieces, but the conversation around his ceiling is starting to get more specific. The Houston guard/forward has the kind of athletic pop and defensive bite that jumps off the screen, and after a season that included real offensive growth, he’s moved from intriguing prospect to player the Rockets can build around.
That’s part of why a recent comparison from Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on “The Hoop Collective” turned heads. While discussing Ben Simmons’ signing with the Sacramento Kings, MacMahon drew a line from Simmons to Thompson and said:
“By the way, interestingly, I think Amen Thompson, like the best version of him, is a young superstar version of Ben Simmons. The best version of him offensively, really, I think that’s a comp for him.”
It’s not the cleanest comp on paper. Thompson is seen as a star-caliber wing, while Simmons was a bigger two-way playmaker at his peak. But MacMahon explained why he sees the resemblance:
“Well, I’m just telling you. That’s the kind of player Amen Thompson can be… Scoring’s higher than it was back then.
Amen Thompson averaged 18.3 [points] last year at age 23. But my point is, [he’s] a big, hyper-athletic, dynamic, attacking playmaker who’s just a menace defensively, but does not have a jump shot.
And you need to surround those players with shooting.”
That part of the comparison makes sense. In his prime, Simmons brought the same kind of forceful downhill pressure, defensive impact and playmaking feel. Thompson has already shown he can do plenty of that himself, and the offensive freedom he’s earned gives him room to keep expanding that game.
The defensive résumé is already there. Thompson made the All-Defensive team in his second year, finished fifth in DPOY voting, and then followed it up with an eighth-place finish this season. He also posted 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, a strong sign that he’s already one of Houston’s most disruptive players.
Offensively, though, the Simmons comparison runs into a real problem. Thompson put up 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game last season, but the shooting numbers show where the fit gets tricky.
He shot 53.4% from the field overall, including 76.0% within 3 feet of the rim. Once he moved farther out, the efficiency dipped to 49.6% from 3-10 feet and 32.5% from 10-16 feet.
From three-point range, he shot 21.6%.
That’s the crux of it. Simmons could lean on his size and interior dominance in a way a wing like Thompson simply can’t. For Thompson, a perimeter game isn’t optional if he wants to become the kind of star his tools suggest he can be.
So the Simmons comparison works only as far as the broad outline goes: elite athlete, disruptive defender, attacking playmaker, limited jumper. The Rockets would love the rest of that package. But for Thompson to become more than a version of that mold, the shooting has to come along.
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