Amen’s Fast Track to Defensive Royalty — Not Even Hakeem Did It This Fast!

Ahead of the Dream’s timeline, Houston Rockets star Amen Thompson has joined a defensive club so exclusive that only 6 other players in NBA history have entered: All-Defensive 1st Team honor as a Sophomore.

To put it in proper context, Hakeem Olajuwon is Top-10 NBA all-time in the following defensive categories:

• Blocks (1st)
• Defensive Win-Shares (4th)
• Defensive Rebounds (8th)
• Defensive Box Plus/Minus (9th)
• Steals (10th)

In light of those gaudy career rankings, for Thompson to reach a milestone on defense Dream himself didn’t achieve this early seems unreal. Considering that the Defensive Player of the Year Award is named after the Rockets’ GOAT, this says a LOT about the youngster’s potential to be the perimeter anchor on a perennial title contender.

The Rarest of Clubs

The All-Defensive Team honors were first given in the 1968-69 season. Since its conception, only one Rookie and a handful of Sophomores were ever named to the All-D 1st Team:

• Rookie: Victor Wembanyama
• Sophomores: Walt Frazier, Micheal Ray Richardson, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Evan Mobley

After last season, Amen Thompson joined that elite circle.

When we consider that only 2 of those legends were perimeter players like Amen is, his defensive pace reaches the rarest air. But what does that mean for his future?

Every single member of the club has been named an NBA All-Star. All but one of the already retired players on the list have been enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. His inner-circle peers make the All-Defensive Teams in almost 60% of the seasons in their careers, with an astonishing average of 8 career selections on the retired members.

If history is any indicator - and it usually is - his early defensive brilliance is no fluke, but rather an impact signature.

The Player Archetype

Considering his only perimeter peers in the aforementioned young defensive royals were guards, we need to explore outside of that group to get a better grasp at Amen’s future. 

The lengthy athletic playmaking defensive wings.

Finding uber athletic wings between 6-7 and 6-10, who by their third NBA season can shut down opponents’ PGs to PFs is not easy. To find those who also showcase signs of elite offensive playmaking is even tougher.

The comp most people will try to make is with Kawhi Leonard. Why not, right? A 6-7 athletic wing who made All-Defensive teams 7x and is a 2x Defensive Player of The Year winner. A raw young player who leveraged athleticism and menacing defense as a base to develop a Finals MVP level of offensive skillset on top of it. The problem with this parallel is that - similarly with Hakeem - Thompson is ahead of The Klaw’s timeline.

We need to go all the way to Kawhi's 4th NBA Season to get similar numbers to what Amen already delivered in his sophomore year:

Kawhi (2015)

• 16.5 PTS/G
• 7.2 TRB/G
• 2.5 AST/G
• 2.3 STL/G
• 0.8 BLK/G
• 52% eFG%

Amen (2025)

• 14.1 PTS/G
• 8.2 TRB/G
• 3.8 AST/G
• 1.4 STL/G
• 1.3 BLK/G
• 58% eFG%

With half of Leonard's professional experience, the Rockets' rising star outperformed him in Rebounds, Assists, Blocks and Effective FG%. Kawhi's following season was his true breakout as an all-around star, being selected for the first time as an All-Star and selected for the All NBA 1st Team. It's not unrealistic that Thompson's season ahead follows a similar pattern.

We do have a few current and former ballers that ascended to stardom by the end of their second season in a more similar fashion to Amen’s.

We’ve got to step outside the “young defensive royals” to place Amen correctly. He isn’t a guard like Clyde Frazier or Sugar Ray Richardson, he’s a 6-foot-7 chaos engine who guards 1–4, rebounds like a big, and creates from the wing.

An archetype isn’t just the who you are,but also it’s the how you’re becoming that. Amen’s rookie-to-sophomore arc — efficiency, steady playmaking, louder defense — mirrors how a specific class of wings leveled up between Years 1 and 2.

1. The Matrix Model - Shawn Marion 

Why it fits (game): Elastic, off-ball offense + everywhere defense. Marion scaled next to high-usage stars by cutting, screening, crashing, running, and cleaning up angles the defense forgot. That’s Amen’s offensive lane today: win the spacing plays, not the dribble war.

Why it fits (evolution): Massive rookie→sophomore jump while keeping the game simple. Usage rose, efficiency traveled, stocks stayed live. He didn’t need a self-creation diet to look like an impact player — he needed timing and angles.

What to borrow: Off-ball violence. 45-cuts when KD occupies two, ghost screens into slips, early rim runs after his own steals, and crash-then-kick instincts.

2. The Simmons Guardrails - Ben Simmons

Why it fits (game): Big guard who warps defense with speed, vision, and size; elite defender who can live on the ball or as a rover. Simmons reminds us that you can be a top-15 impact player with a low-volume jumper if you’re an A+ defender and A- playmaker.

Why it fits (evolution): Year-2 cleaned the edges—more rim efficiency, tighter turnover profile, broader defensive usage—then Year-3 was the awards pop (All-Defense/All-NBA). The lesson: the impact can outpace the resume by a year. Amen’s already at the “impact” stage.

Why it doesn’t fit: Role. Simmons needed the ball to be himself, Amen doesn’t. Houston won’t hand him a Harden-sized on-ball diet with Durant/Şengün in the build.

What to borrow (and avoid): Take the north-south pressure and early-offense passing, leave the stand-still half-court stalls. Keep the shot volume honest (corner 3s, slot pull-ups after hard downhill drives) so spacing never becomes a tax.

3. The Barnes Fork - Scottie Barnes

Why it fits (game): Wing creator whose defense arrived early and offense expanded year-over-year. Barnes shows the path if usage spikes—on-ball reps, post splits, short-roll playmaking into real scoring volume.

Why it fits (evolution): Rookie→sophomore wasn’t a volume explosion, it was role expansion—assist rate up, more second-side orchestration—setting up the Year-3 breakout. That’s Houston’s contingency path: if injuries or stagger patterns push Amen’s usage, the Barnes lane is ready.

What to borrow: Second-side PnR reps and short-roll reads when teams trap KD. Amen as the release valve that turns 4-on-3s into dunks and corner 3s is the Barnes-adjacent growth that fits this roster.

Marion, Simmons and Barnes are a solid starting point, but to truly predict Amen's future, there's one player that actually combines both lists - he's both a defensive prodigy and an athletic defensive engine with high offensive hub upside.

The Mobley Blueprint

Sure, I know what you’re thinking. Their differences will be the first thing you notice: a Forward with guard skills that mostly operates in the perimeter on both sides of the ball versus a Forward, who freelances as a Center, doing most of his offensive and defensive damage inside the 3pt arc.

Now that we covered the “why not” part, just hear me out on why this is the best parallel.

Mobley is the closest thing to impact twin to Thompson, just with a slightly different action mechanism. Take a look at their second NBA seasons, side-by-side:

The numbers reflect the similarity on how they did it. Starting on D, both earned All-Defensive First Team by anchoring Top 5 ranked defenses of 50+ Wins teams. On offense, both won possessions without dominating touches. They kept their usage low, their efficiency high and got their buckets as an off-ball 3rd option.

Now that Mobley’s blueprint helped us nail down the past, it’s time to finally forecast what Thompson’s Year 3 should look like.

Amen Thompson, Year 3 (2025–26) — The Projection

From the Defensive Royalty Club to the 6-7 swiss knife peers, we can get a pretty good idea on what and how Amen’s season ahead will pan out.

Starting with the numbers, I leveraged the player archetype peers 3rd NBA season jump, along with Sophomore stats twin, Evan Mobley’s Year 3 to predict Thompson’s stat line. From that baseline, I added the Rockets 25-26 roster context and cross-referenced with Basketball-Reference’s Projection for his 2025-26 season. 

This is where I landed:
16.8 PPG • 9.1 RPG • 4.7 APG • 1.6 SPG • 1.2 BPG • ~2.4 TOV • ~36 MPG

This is how he gets there:

• Defense, still the calling card. Switch 1–4 at the point of attack, low-man stunts into contests, live-ball turnovers that become free points. Terror Twin Stocks and opponents’ biggest nightmare remain the Amen Signature.
• Second-side creation: Short-closeout attacks, one-dribble reads, and kickouts after KD/Şengün gravity.
• Off-ball pressure: 45-cuts, ghost screens into slips, baseline darts behind ball-watchers.
• Early offense: Push off defensive events; turn live-ball steals and long rebounds into lobs and dunks.
• Selective on-ball reps: Staggered minutes as the primary with second units—simple PnR menu, hit the pocket, take the drive.

With that sober projection, you can already count him in the All-Star reserves conversation, as well as a fringe Most Improved Player of the Year award contention. 

Now, if his growth surpasses the above baseline and the KD addition is a home-run, Houston will be a problem! And this is why:

1) Contender math without a usage tax
Amen’s low-usage, high-efficiency offense + All-Defense engine lets Durant’s two-man game with Şengün breathe easier when the third defender has to honor Thompson’s cut or quick-trigger corner 3s. That’s how the Rockets’ offense becomes Top 10 rated.

2)  Offensive ripple effects

• KD traps = 4-on-3s: Amen turns those into dunks and corner 3s.
• Five-out looks: Cleaner driving lanes for Amen’s north–south burst.
• Bench stability: Staggered pockets where Amen is the the-facto PG keep second units above water without burning KD minutes.

3) The closing five has an identity
Durant • Şengün • Amen • a spacer-guard • a spacer-wing. Thompson is the switchable stopper who kills actions at birth and turns them into Pick-6s. Expect Houston to finish games with Amen on the toughest perimeter cover and as KD/Şengün’s offensive second-action escape valve.

4) Defensive ceiling raiser
With Amen erasing actions at the point of attack and flying as the low man, Houston can toggle between switch, peel, and scram coverages without crossing wires. That’s the anchor that keeps the team in the Top 5 defensive ranks.

The bottom line is: if Thompson just follows his natural progression, continuing his path as a defensive menace, leveraging his elite basketball IQ & athleticism to star as a third option on offense, the Rockets look less “dangerous” and more inevitable.