Like Tony Soprano, the Houston Rockets are on the precipice of an enormous crossroads heading into the 2023 NBA Draft. After three years of egregious tanking, they've established a solid base layer of young talent. Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Kevin Porter Jr.: all good players. Similarly, new head coach Ime Udoka lends a fresh air of professionalism, a marked difference from the last three, lawless, pointless seasons. And with James Harden flirting with returning to Houston this summer, the only certainty is that next year's Rockets won't—or at least shouldn't—look anything like last year's Rockets. But whether a team is a contender or lottery-chum, there will always be a need for uber-athletic, 6'7 wings who double as a basketball genius. As such, here's why the Rockets should pick Amen Thompson with the no. 4 pick in the NBA Draft, regardless of what the rest of this summer holds.
Athleticism
Since Sengun is a plodding center, the Rockets have tried to fill their wing rotation with as much athleticism as possible. Fortunately, Amen Thompson is the most athletic player in the NBA Draft—if not, soon the entire NBA. Nobody in NBA history has ever moved the way Thompson moves, combining an eely litheness and undeniable explosiveness. There are only a handful of people in the world who can suddenly accelerate and decelerate as they navigate thickets of bodies—and there are only a handful of people who can boast a legitimate 40 inch vertical. Amen Thompson might be the only person who can do both.
To wit, Thompson isn't some gameless workout warrior; his athleticism manifests itself clearly and effectively on the court. Offensively, his first step is nuclear. He can zoom straight by any defender from a complete standstill. He's impossible to stay in front of—even when he's penned in by defenses or blockaded by sagging defenders, he simply twists his way to daylight. Keeping Thompson out of the pain is like trying to catch a fish with your foot.
Defensively, he covers stunning amounts of ground. Potentially the best wing defender in the class, Thompson has the reflexes, smarts and athleticism to erase entire swaths of the court. As the low man, he seems to teleport between tagging the roller and recovering to the corner that it seems like there are multiple low men. He has the balance to slide with any ball-handler, the bendiness to slip around any screen, the speed to pick off sloppy passes and the hops to be a shockingly fearsome secondary rim protector.
Passing
Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. both have considerable gifts—passing is not one of them. While the Rockets current backcourt is heavily geared towards bucket-getting, Thompson is a high level passer, capable of manipulating defenses and then bisecting them with the perfect delivery. Like all great playmakers, Thompson expertly folds his passes into his dribbles, slinging the ball with one hand before the defense even registers that he's passing. In doing so, he wrongfoots and freezes opponents; he has such gravity as a driver that he makes it impossible for defenses to focus on anything else when he has the ball. This is the beautiful synergy of Thompson's game. Since defenses can't stay in front of him, they have to send frenzied help to stop him at the rim. Since they have to send frenzied help to stop him at the rim, they leave shooters open. Since they leave shooters open, Thompson will find them.
Potential
By hiring Udoka and targeting Harden, the Rockets are signaling that they intend to start trying again. As a result, this is probably the last time the Rockets will have a top five pick in the NBA Draft for the foreseeable future, one would hope. In their current form, the Rockets have a bunch of very good young players, but nobody who seems like they could one day pilot an actual contender. Despite the question marks surrounding his jumper and the newness of Overtime Elite, Amen Thompson could be that guy for the Rockets. The rest of his game is so brilliant that he will be a franchise-defining superstar as long as he grows into just an average shooter. More, he's the kind of star who can easily accommodate other stars. Whereas guys like Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown have rigid games that their teammates must adapt to, Thompson's greatest strength is the way that he accentuates those of his teammates. His off-ball defense gives his teammates license to play tighter, more aggressive on-ball defense, secure in the knowledge that Thompson will fix any mistake. His passing and driving ability allow him to spoonfeed his teammates a bottomless buffet of kickouts and dump-offs.
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