LAS VEGAS — It was hard to take your eyes off Amen Thompson when the Rockets had the ball Friday night. His athleticism was everything it was advertised to be and he just effortlessly explodes past defenders, but he showed off his passing, a nice floater and a high IQ game as well. He finished through contact and made difficult shots.
Amen finishes through the contact 😤 pic.twitter.com/AyFmdTSdMk
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 7, 2023
Now Thompson is out for the remainder of Summer League after an MRI revealed he suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain suffered in the second half against Portland on Friday night, a story broken by Marc Spears of ESPN’s Andscape. Thompson will reportedly be in a boot for a month and eventually return to training.
It’s mostly a loss for fans in Las Vegas and not ideal for his summer development work, but it shouldn’t impact him for the fall when training camp opens.
While we should be careful reading much into anything from Summer League, Thompson looked like a future NBA point guard, a pass-first guy (almost to a fault) who made decisions and got his teammates the ball. The Rockets have locked up Fred VanVleet as their one for the next few seasons , but it’s easy to picture Thompson growing into that role after FVV. Thompson finished with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting and hit his one 3-point attempt, plus he had five assists.
The Rockets will be entertaining this fall, and Thompson will be a big part of that.
