Houston Rockets Player Season Review: Amen Thompson

In the last two seasons, the Houston Rockets have gone from a 22-win team to 41 wins and fighting to the last few weeks of the season for a play-in berth to a 52-win team and second in the Western Conference. The Rockets saw improvement from several young players throughout the 2024-25 season.

Alperen Sengun made his first All-Star Game and became one of the best young players in the NBA. Jalen Green showed in the regular season that he can be consistent throughout the year, not just in March. Jabari Smith and Tari Eason had their ups and downs but became a reliable tandem off the bench.

However, the player who had the biggest jump especially in the last two seasons was Amen Thompson. The Houston Rockets drafted Thompson fourth overall in the 2023 draft, knowing he was one of, if not the best, athlete in the draft and also displaying good to at times great playmaking skills.

Thompson's rookie season started off slowly. He dealt with injuries for the first part of the season, and once he returned, he spent a few games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets' G League affiliate. Once back, it took Thompson a couple of months to get used to the speed of the game, but in the last two months of the season, Thompson truly showed what he could do on the court.

When Sengun went down with a season-ending injury at the beginning of March, the Rockets had to make a change to their starting lineup, and they decided to move Thompson to the starting power forward spot.

Thompson thrived as a small-ball four as he put up several noteworthy games to end the season, and the Rockets knew then that they had a special player who would only get better. The Rockets had one goal in mind for the 2024-25 season, and that was to make the playoffs.

Thompson started the 2024 season coming off the bench for the Rockets as he helped form one of the most dynamic pairings off the bench with Tari Eason, called the "Terror Twins." Thompson and Eason wreaked havoc on the defensive end of the court and helped the Rockets vault to the top half of the Western Conference.

After the Rockets' New Year's Day game, Jabari Smith suffered a fractured hand during practice, and just like the previous season, the Rockets decided to move Thompson to the starting lineup. Thompson took full advantage of the move as he became one of the best, not just young defenders in the league, but one of the best defensive players in the entire NBA.

Thompson won Defensive Player of the Month and finished the season as one of the highest-ranked defensive players in the entire league. He also improved on the offensive end of the court. Thompson's points per game went up from 9.5 last season to 14.1 in his second season. Thompson showed improvement across the board, as he saw increases in rebounding, assists, and steals per game.

Thompson took on the role of guarding the other team's best wing or guard, which freed up Dillon Brooks to focus more on the offensive end of the court. Thompson's great play was a major reason for the Rockets finishing second in the tough Western Conference.

Even though Thompson was playing in his first-ever playoff series, he showed that his style of play translates to any time of the year. Thompson struggled to start the series, but once he settled down and figured out what playoff basketball was about, he became one of the most consistent players for the Rockets from the end of Game 4 on.

Thompson has a good chance of earning another award once the NBA announces the All-Defensive Team later this month. Thompson is only going to get better, and he has become one of the cornerstones of the team as the Rockets look to go from a good team that makes the playoffs to a championship contender.