Amen Thompson's painful awards snub proves how Rockets failed him

Amen Thompson received another painful reminder of this season's shortcomings when he was left off the NBA All-Defensive Teams. After finishing on the First Team in 2025, Thompson found himself a couple votes shy of securing a Second-Team spot this year. Although this omission may actually help the Rockets in offseason negotiations with Thompson, it also underscores the tough position he was forced to play throughout the season.

Amen Thompson had to play an unnatural role

Rather than being able to focus on his defensive prowess, Thompson had a major offensive role in Houston with a solid point guard in the rotation. After Fred VanVleet's ACL tear, the Rockets elected not to acquire another veteran floor general. This often left Thompson as the de facto point guard, a role he wasn't quite ready for.

Without a true point guard, the Rockets' obvious flaws were exposed in the playoffs and there was nothing Thompson could do about it. Even with some offensive improvements from Thompson, the Rockets still seemed very far behind other West playoff teams without an established point guard. It was simply too much to ask a 23-year-old wing in his third season to carry a huge load as a team's lead ball-handler, especially without a ton of spacing around him.

That's not to say Thompson didn't make significant strides in his offensive game in Year 3. He improved his stat line to 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game while shooting 53% from the field. He also remained a strong defender in this time, but wasn't able to direct as much focus to that end as the season before.

Thompson is still on an incredible trajectory

Even with the awkward fit this season, Thompson gives the Rockets a lot to be excited about. If Houston can somehow find a solid long-term point guard with their draft picks, Thompson gives them a great building block from the wing. Even without a reliable outside shot, his scoring aggression and playmaking can be positives in a secondary role.

And we all know what an incredible defender Thompson can be. His twin brother Ausar, who admittedly has a slightly different skillset, finished on the All-Defensive First Team and was third in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season. The two twins both have unreal athleticism and instincts on defense that have shone when put in the right situations.

Amen Thompson made the most of his role this season, but could have grown even more if the Rockets gave him another veteran guard to lead the offense. Instead, he had to produce beyond his means for a team that was never built to optimize his offensive skillset anyways.

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