Rockets' Amen Thompson should make an NBA All-Defensive team

The Houston Rockets will not sweep the 2024-25 NBA season's individual awards.

There's no MVP candidate on this roster. Alperen Sengun has an outside shot at making the All-NBA Third Team, but it doesn't feel likely. There's no Most Improved Player candidate, and Amen Thompson has started too often to factor into the Sixth Man of the Year race.

Speaking of Thompson...

Amen Thompson should make an All-Defensive team

That's right.

Let's start with Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM). Thompson's 2.3 mark ties Giannis Antetokounmpo for the 10th spot. Ten players make All-Defensive teams. Sometimes, math is easy.

Although, contextually, that's not a purely fair measure. Nikola Jokic is leading the NBA in DBPM. He is not the best defender in the NBA. This points to a broader issue with the stat itself. It favors bigs, and beyond that, it feels like (if you'll pardon some amateur statistical analysis) offensive stats bleed into the measurement.

On the subject of DBPM's preference for big men, Thompson is also a better defender than Goga Bitadze (4th, 2.7) and Isaiah Hartenstein (8th, 2.5). They're both stout defenders, but anyone watching basketball should concede that Thompson's defensive abilities are more special. Victor Wembanyama (2.9, 3rd) is likely the best defender in basketball, but he won't meet the minimum games played requirement to qualify for a team.

Prefer basic counting stats? How about stocks (steals + blocks) per game? Thompson ranks 11th. Out of everyone ahead of him, only Dyson Daniels, Jaren Jackson Jr., Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Myles Turner could possibly play enough games to qualify for the team.

Turner's 0.2 DBPM is pedestrian. He is a plus defender, but he's also got a reputation for chasing blocks - Thompson deserves a place over him. Otherwise?

We're looking at four players who should be on the All-Defense team.

Voters need to recognize Thompson's impact

There will be no hedging in this article. There will be no "it's understandable if" or "maybe next year":

Thompson deserves to make an All-Defense team this year. Full stop.

He deserves first team consideration. If that field is too crowded, it's imperative that he's on the second team. He is the best defender on the fourth-best defensive team in the NBA.

Beyond the numbers, Thompson's impact leaps off the screen. His ability to cover ground on defense astonishes viewers. Thompson has been asked to fill multiple roles this year - he was a free safety before Jabari Smith Jr.'s injury, and when his teammate was out, he was a weakside rim protector.

If he's the only award winning Rocket, that's OK.