Top Performance Series: Amen Thompson

Breaking down the uber athletic guard vs the Cold Hearts in late February.

The idea behind the top performance series is to go back and watch the best, or one of the best, box score games of each prospect's season to see how they looked when they were performing at their highest individual level and what that might show us about their ceiling as a prospect.

It must be mentioned the casualness and nonchalant demeanor that these games can be played with at times. There are plenty of competitive possessions, and this one in particular the game slowed down in the second half, but it still adds an extra difficulty with the evaluation.

There are even some “rules” within the game that are very interesting. Multiple instances where the ball goes out of bounds and the referee never touches it before the offensive team inbounds.

Also, the City Reapers had multiple defensive possessions that started five on three with their fourth defender trailing a designed transition and the fifth teammate not able to engage in the action until they headed back to the offensive end. An iteration of the NHL “power play” where an offensive team gets this advantage when entering the bonus as opposed to free throws.

Offense

Thompson’s unselfish nature is immediately apparent when turning on the film. There are times that it would be nice to see him be more assertive but teammates will love playing with a high level athlete that is so concerned about getting them open shots.

He also showcased some of his true point guard skills in this game as he orchestrated some half court offensive sets and directed teammates where to go and where to be. The 6-foot-7 elite athlete is going to constantly put pressure on the defense by getting into the lane but to truly be a nightmare for defenses the jump shot has to improve.

Throughout this game you could see how uncomfortable he was in true catch and shoot opportunities by either passing them up completely, usually to the detriment of the flow of the offense, or hesitating before missing short.

Where Thompson looks much more comfortable with his shot is off the dribble. This would be a huge development for him as it could also give him something to go to in the mid range when attacking all the way to the rim isn’t available.

This game also gave a really nice insight into that finishing around the rim for the Oakland, CA native. There were some really encouraging weak hand, left, finishes in this game but also a few examples where you can see that Thompson will have some growing pains early in his career with his decisions on what finishing move to utilize in each situation.

Another area of intrigue that came from this game is all the different ways Thompson could be utilized within an offense that are not just on the ball possessions.

Yes, you will want him in plenty of ball screen situations and even some isolations but it was nice to see second side attacks, zoom actions and ghost screens. It even makes you wonder how effective he could be as a screen and short roll playmaker.

One tertiary aspect of Thompson’s offensive game that it would have been nice to see more value considering his elite athleticism is on the offensive boards.

Defense

The most immediate impact that Thompson will have on the defensive end will be his overall playmaking.

Not only is he able to be disruptive in passing lanes with his athleticism and anticipation but also on the ball with active and accurate hands. He is also going to be impactful at the rim with weak side rotation, recovery and transition chase down blocks.

The question around some of this playmaking will be if it actually ends up being a net positive or negative.

For the most part, Thompson plays hard on this end of the court, but that energy and activity can actually lead him to being out of position that lead to open opportunities for the opposition.

Thompson has plenty of rotational and multiple effort possessions to give you hope that this is who he could be as a defender and be able to contribute to an overall defensive scheme. On the ball, for every head scratching blow by that he gives up he matches it with a possession where he picks up the ball handler at half court and successfully navigates a ball screen.

Considering the sheer amount of ball screens throughout an NBA game, the value Thompson could bring as a ball screen defender with his athletic profile could yield huge value.

In this game alone he had a very aware weakside rotation and box out, multiple peel switches, isolation stops, ball screen navigation and those aforementioned multiple efforts. If Thompson, and the team that selects him, are able to harness this into a more fundamentally sound defensive package they could be getting an elite perimeter defender.

Ceiling

Elite on ball paint touch creator and perimeter defender.

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