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The Houston Rockets are still alive in the NBA Playoffs this season, but they will need a miracle to move on to the next round. After the No. 2 seed split its opening two games at home, the Golden State Warriors picked up a pair of gritty wins in The Bay to take a 3-1 lead and push the Rockets to the brink of elimination.
Regardless of how this series ends, this season has been a successful one for Houston. Ime Udoka and company have wildly exceeded expectations with a very young team and are getting their first taste of the postseason with this core.
However, assuming an early exit against the Warriors, the conversation will start to shift this offseason into how the Rockets can take the next step into the top tier of title contenders. Regardless of who becomes available, the Rockets don't appear to be willing to trade rising wing Amen Thompson for any potential star, according to ESPN's Tim McMahon.
“The evaluation of the initial playoff experience for the Rockets' rising young stars will be an important element of those internal discussions,” McMahon wrote. “A blockbuster trade would require the Rockets to give up some of that young talent, although Houston has made it known to other front offices that Thompson is considered untouchable.”
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The hesitancy to trade Thompson is understandable for anybody who has watching him play and grow this season. He is already one of the best wing defenders in the league and has the potential to improve even more on that end as he gets stronger and develops some more savvy. However, the offensive end is where he really has some room to grow.
Thompson is essentially a non-shooter at the moment, which is the obvious and glaring area that he can improve. At times in this series, the Warriors have just stuck Quentin Post on the Overtime Elite product and allowed him to roam around on the perimeter without really being guarded, which has hurt the Rockets' spacing.
Thompson has flashed some playmaking chops in his second season, though those skills are still understandably raw. He can improve as a finisher as well, though his incredible athleticism allows him to still get to the rim even against stronger defenders.
Some of the other young pieces in Houston have some questions surrounding them. Alperen Sengun has a clear ceiling on defense. Jalen Green is too inconsistent at this point to be a true go-to scorer. Other youngsters, like Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard, just haven't been on the floor enough to get a real evaluation. However, holding onto Thompson is obviously in the Rockets' best interest moving forward.
