Amen Thompson’s next step is already on the record.
Fresh off a five-year, $208 million extension with the Rockets, the 23-year-old guard made his priorities plain in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews. Thompson said, “I want to get back on the All-Defensive team.
I didn’t make it last year. I want to help Houston get a championship.
I want to be the best player that I can be.”
That answer fits the player Houston has spent the past year turning into one of its centerpieces. Thompson just finished a season in which he averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 steals across 79 games, and he landed a top-10 finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He was also named to the 2025 All-Defensive First Team.
Now the Rockets are paying him like a long-term pillar, and the expectations are following right behind. When his extension begins, Thompson will be one of the franchise’s highest-paid players.
The defensive goal is clear enough, but the bigger target is the one every Rocket fan understands immediately: a championship. Houston has not won a title since the 1990s, and its most recent trip to the Western Conference Finals came in 2018.
The team was bounced in the first round last postseason, yet the outlook heading into the 2026-2027 season still carries real promise. Kevin Durant remains one of the league’s elite scorers, Alperen Sengun is still producing at an All-Star level, and Fred VanVleet is expected back in the starting lineup.
The path through the West, though, won’t be easy. The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder were the only 60-plus win teams in the conference last season, and both are powered by MVP-level talent plus deep supporting casts. That puts them in the way of Houston’s push toward what would be its first NBA Finals appearance in more than 30 years.
There’s also a personal milestone hanging out there for Thompson. Coming off this extension, the expectation is that he could reach his first All-Star appearance in 2027 and keep climbing toward NBA superstardom. His year-to-year jump already points in that direction, and the coming season will show just how high his ceiling can go.
One obvious area for growth is the shot. Thompson has hit 21.9% of his career three-pointers, and after working with Rockets assistant coach Chip Engelland, there’s belief that his mechanics can take a step forward.
For Houston, Thompson’s development may end up being the thread that ties everything together. Durant and Sengun remain the offense’s primary engines, but the Rockets’ ceiling is tied to how far Thompson can go.
In Other News...
Amen Thompson Knows What Could Change Everything For The Rockets
Amen Thompson arrived at Rockets training camp with the same bigger-picture ambition he has been carrying all along, but the conversation around him kept circling back to the one skill that could reshape his ceiling. The criticism of his inconsistent jumpshot has followed him, and Thompson met it head-on, making clear he believes the shot can improve and that he is willing to put in the work to get there. For a Houston team trying to sort out its long-term core, that matters because Thompsons development is about more than one facet of his game.
Thompson said he has been focused on that part of his game all offseason, and he is aiming higher than just becoming a steadier shooter. He wants All-Star and All-NBA recognition, and the early signs from within the locker room have been encouraging, with teammates noticing progress in his shot and his physical condition. If that improvement keeps building, it could change the way opponents defend him and, in turn, open up another level for the Rockets. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Is Already Changing Jabari Smith Jr In Houston
Jabari Smith Jr. spent the offseason working on the finer points of his game, and Kevin Durant was part of the blueprint. The Rockets forward said he has been trying to play lower and clean up his footwork after taking cues from Durants pace and balance, a subtle shift that fits Houstons broader optimism heading into the new season. With Durant in the mix and young pieces like Smith, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson still ascending, the Rockets have plenty of reason to believe the next step can come from internal growth as much as from star power.
For Smith, the changes are less about bulk and more about staying mobile, which matters on both ends for a player expected to keep expanding his role. The challenge is finding the right version of that evolution without sacrificing the agility that lets him handle smaller defenders, and that balance will be worth watching as the Rockets try to blend Durants veteran polish with the energy of their younger core. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Trade Buzz Just Put Houston's Commitment In Focus
Kevin Durants name is already surfacing in early trade chatter again, which is hardly surprising for a player with his rsum and a player option sitting out there for the 2027-28 season. The latest buzz has him drawing interest from Detroit, but for Houston the bigger takeaway is what has not happened: the Rockets have built their roster around a young core and a win-now structure, with Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet giving the team a clearer direction than it has had in years.
Even with Durant still producing at an All-NBA level, Houston has shown no appetite for opening the door on his market, and a move before the season starts looks unlikely. That stance says plenty about where the Rockets see themselves right now - not as a club tempted by star-chasing noise, but as one committed to protecting the pieces that have made the roster so promising in the first place. [Read more 🡒]