Rockets’ Amen Thompson Predicted to Take ‘Big Leap’

Amen Thompson has immersed himself as one of the game’s rising stars. Defensively, he’s among the elite of the elite. That’s already been proven.

The Houston Rockets wing made the First-Team All-Defense for a reason.

His frame and athleticism make it difficult to score on him. And he doesn’t take possessions off.

Nor does he back down from any challenge. Hence why he became an instant favorite of Rockets coach Ime Udoka, who has the same personality.

Offensively, however, he’s got ways to go. But according to Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes, Thompson could be in line for significant improvement on that end in 2025-26.

“With Fred VanVleet sidelined by a torn ACL, the Houston Rockets will entrust Reed Sheppard and Thompson with more playmaking duties than expected.

The absurdly athletic wing offered hints about what he might contribute when he took over a starting role late in December of last year. Thompson averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in January, then followed that up with 14.9 points, 8.6 boards and 6.3 assists in February, complete with 35.3 percent three-point shooting that month.

The writer continued.

“If the ball is in his hands more often, opponents won't have the option to ignore him.

Thompson's raw talent is undeniable, and his potential as an on-ball threat is real. If he makes any shooting gains at all, he's going to join the NBA's next class of two-way superstars.”

The emphasis here was on Thompson’s long-range shot. On Media Day, he disclosed that he has been working on his three ball in the offseason. He quite candidly stated that his mindset is to not hesitate and let it fly, joking that his range may be just short of Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry’s.

The key could be getting more opportunities from the corner, which is the shortest 3-point shot on the floor, by distance. In that area, Thompson converted on 37 percent of his attempts in 2024-25, which is certainly promising.

One area that he will need to work on is his ballhandling, especially if he’s going to be filling in some for Fred VanVleet, who rarely turned the ball over – consistently ranking near the top of the league in assist-to-turnover ratio – a true barometer for a floor general and/or playmaker.

Thompson averaged 3.8 assists in 2024-25 in addition to two turnovers. That’s…not great.

In Houston’s opening preseason victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Thompson had four turnovers.

Again, the talk about his outside is understandable, considering how poorly he’s fared from there (22.1 percent overall for his career). Not to mention the fact that you never ideally want your floor general to be limited from long-range.

But Thompson’s true game is attacking and finding the open man. His handle is what would really propel him to take a leap this season. We’ll see if that’s improved.