Amen Thompson’s new extension puts Houston’s long-term spending back under the microscope, and the number is a loud one: five years, $208 million, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Add that to the $185 million deal Alperen Sengun signed in 2024, and the Rockets have now locked in $393 million for two players whose flaws are hard to ignore.
That kind of commitment would normally signal a clean runway into the future. Instead, it raises a sharper question: what exactly are the Rockets buying?
Sengun has been a useful offensive hub, but the defensive side keeps dragging him down. Two seasons ago, Houston was 2.7 points better defensively with him on the floor.
Last season, that flipped all the way to 7.9 points worse. That 10.6-point swing says plenty on its own, and it clearly wasn’t lost on Ime Udoka.
“No fight, no aggression, the same mistakes over and over,” the Rockets' head coach told the media.
Thompson brings a different problem. He’s the better athlete and the more versatile talent, but the jumper remains a major issue.
His midrange game has taken a step forward, but 22% from three is still a brutal number. Defenses can back up and dare him to prove it, which shrinks the floor for everyone around him.
The bet in Houston is that the shot eventually comes around. But Thompson is heading into his fourth season, and the progress so far has been minimal.
Across the league, the team everyone is trying to chase looks a lot different. Victor Wembanyama is coming off a unanimous Defensive Player of the Year season, and his numbers tell the story: 25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks per game, while shooting 51% from the field and 35% from three. His five-year, $252 million extension this summer already looks like a bargain, and the Spurs have built a young core around him that keeps getting more dangerous.
Stephon Castle, the former Rookie of the Year, posted 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Dylan Harper added 12 points, 4 assists, and shot 51% from the field. Both stood out in the postseason, and neither comes with the kind of obvious weakness that follows Sengun and Thompson around.
That’s the part that makes Houston’s number look so harsh. The Rockets have poured elite money into two players, while San Antonio is getting elite production from its young group on rookie deals. In a Western Conference full of teams trying to catch up, the Spurs’ path looks cleaner, stronger, and a whole lot more convincing.
In Other News...
Spurs Rookie Could Force A Tough Change Behind Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama is set atop the Spurs frontcourt hierarchy, but the real intrigue may come behind him, where the battle for backup center minutes is already taking shape. Rookie Tarris Reed Jr. has entered the mix alongside veteran Luke Kornet, and San Antonio has reason to view the competition as a healthy one, especially with the roster looking deeper and more functional in the paint than it has in recent seasons.
Reed brings the kind of size and physical presence that can change the tone of a second unit on both ends of the floor, and that gives this race a little more weight than a routine camp fight for minutes. Kornet still has experience on his side, but the Spurs could be forced into a tougher decision if Reeds impact shows up quickly, because the frontcourt rotation may be one of the more important places for San Antonio to gain an edge this season. [Read more 🡒]
Keldon Johnson Faces A Spurs Role Shift That Could Define Camp
Keldon Johnson heads into Spurs training camp with a different kind of responsibility hanging over him. After years of being asked to do plenty with the ball, his place in the rotation is set to look more streamlined as San Antonio sorts through roster changes and tries to clarify where everyone fits. Even after a rough postseason stretch, Johnson is still in the mix, and the larger question is how his game meshes with a group that is trying to sharpen its identity.
For Johnson, the shift points toward a more specialized role than the one he has carried before, one built less around creation and more around doing the dirty work that helps the lineup function. How well that translates alongside the teams newer pieces and the players pushing for bigger on-ball opportunities will be one of camps more interesting storylines, because the Spurs are clearly treating this as more than a minor tweak. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Are Becoming A Matchup Nightmare Defenses Can't Solve
The Spurs are starting to look like the kind of team defenses have to solve in layers, and that is a problem when Victor Wembanyama is already forcing one set of adjustments. Add De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, two guards with very different ways of putting pressure on the floor, and San Antonio suddenly has multiple ways to tilt a possession before the defense even gets settled.
What makes the group even trickier is how the supporting cast fits around those headliners. Dylan Harper gives the Spurs another downhill presence to keep the offense moving, while Tobias Harris adds a veteran option who can fit into different matchups and make opponents choose their compromises carefully. For teams trying to game-plan a night in San Antonio, the challenge is not just stopping one star, but figuring out which version of the Spurs is coming at them next. [Read more 🡒]