Amen Thompson’s All-Defense snub hides the leap Rockets needed

Rockets fans and Amen Thompson must be disappointed with the All-Defense results, as Thompson was left off both teams. That comes as a slight surprise, considering he finished eighth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, but clearly voters evaluate the two honors differently.

Despite Thompson not receiving an All-Defense selection, this was still a successful season for the 23-year-old, and Rockets fans should be excited about his future. Thompson made a huge leap as a scorer, saw a big uptick in his free throw percentage, remained a menace defensively and continued to flash star potential.

This cannot be stressed enough: not making an All-Defense Team is not an indictment of Thompson. Rockets fans should not look at him any differently.

Amen Thompson’s snub says more about his role than his defense

As already pointed out by my co-writer, Swoosh Shrestha, the Rockets did not do Thompson any favors by asking him to play out of position all season. Thompson was forced into heavy point guard responsibilities, and that role was taxing. It may have contributed to him not matching his All-Defense First Team selection from last season.

Aside from simply taking on more playmaking responsibility, he also took on more responsibility as a scorer. His scoring average went from 14.1 points last year to 18.3 points this season. He also took 3.1 more shots per game. With more offensive responsibility, it is natural to take a slight step back defensively.

Despite that, Thompson was still able to balance offense and defense about as well as any player in the league. The only player to average more points than Thompson in the top 10 of Defensive Player of the Year voting was Victor Wembanyama. Bam Adebayo and Wembanyama were the only All-Defense selections to average more points than Thompson.

If Thompson had the same offensive responsibility as last season, he would have had more energy for the defensive end and probably would have been an easy All-Defense selection. But that is not what the Rockets needed.

Houston needed him to take a leap offensively. He did that while still playing outstanding defense. That is the sign of a potential superstar.

Before he earns that superstar distinction, he needs to make another offensive leap while maintaining his defensive ferocity. But there is no reason to believe he cannot do that.

Thompson has made large offensive leaps in each season of his career and now has back-to-back top-10 finishes in Defensive Player of the Year voting. If he does that one more time, next year could be his first All-Star selection. This season should only bring optimism for Amen Thompson. Do not worry about an All-Defense snub.

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