This season has been a career year for Amen Thompson. The Houston Rockets do-it-all prospect has rose to the occasion and been willing to step up and take on whatever has been asked of him.
Case in point, Houston’s lack of initiation at the point guard spot.

Thompson has stepped in and been more than willing to change positions, for the betterment of the team. It’s been a flawed experiment. Thompson explained to Will Guillory of The Athletic, following Houston’s embarrassing loss to the New York Knicks in prime time on Saturday.

“I’ve got to be able to get us into something. Not just (isolations),” said Thompson, who finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. “But I’m still learning. I’ve got to be better in that aspect, too.”

This shouldn’t be a surprise. Amen Thompson isn’t Fred VanVleet. They have different skillsets and player profiles entirely. Thompson is a force of a two-way wing. He isn’t a shooter. And he doesn’t have a handle. Certainly not like VanVleet (in either aspect).

Amen Thompson has been pulled from his wing position to be Houston’s table-setter, which has been especially problematic all season. Sure, Thompson is athletic and can pass.
That doesn’t necessarily make one a point guard. At all, actually.

And it reduces his effectiveness, based on his strengths. Thompson is a slasher and is unstoppable when getting downhill and attacking. Or cutting to the baseline. Not when bringing the ball up court and standing at the top of the key.

Or behind the 3-point line. A long-range shot is basically a turnover for Thompson. Reed Sheppard is capable of taking on some point guard reps. He can play make and table-set.

He especially uses picks and screens to freeze defenses and hit open shooters from behind the 3-point line. But he’s mostly been used in an off-ball capacity. And he has an extremely noticeable short leash by Rockets coach Ime Udoka, due to his lack of defensive prowess, which has led teams to hunt him.

The Rockets have resisted the urge to make an aggressive push for a table-setter. They just sat the trade deadline out. Which is understandable, considering what they would’ve had to part with. The reality is that none of the names that changed teams would’ve made the Rockets title contenders.

One possibility is JD Davison, who is nearing his 50-game limit on his two-way deal. In total, Davison has already played or been active for 46 games. However, we’ve seen Houston make him inactive more recently.

In fact, Davison was inactive for each of Houston’s last five games, heading into Wednesday night’s victory over the Sacramento Kings. Would they be keeping his number under 50, if they intended to convert him and give him a traditional NBA deal? Who knows. Time will tell.

Loading recommendations… Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations