Amen Thompson the Playmaker Has Been on Full Display Recently

The Houston Rockets received some of the most devastating on-court news a basketball team can receive before the start of a new season. The Rockets were flying high after a 52-win regular season, their first playoff appearance since 2020, and they had just traded for one of the greatest players of all time in Kevin Durant.

The good vibes of the offseason changed quickly when the Rockets found out that their team leader and point guard Fred VanVleet suffered a orn right ACL sustained in September right before the start of training camp. The news hit the Rockets like a stack of bricks as VanVleet in his two seasons with the team had become the Rockets on and off court leader.

Even though VanVleet wasn't officially ruled out for the season, he more than likely would be out at least the entire regular season, which meant the Rockets would have to make significant adjustments on the fly as they tried to replace VanVleet in the backcourt. That meant players like second year guard Reed Sheppard, Aaron Holiday and Amen Thompson would have to step up and become the Rockets point guard.

Thompson was immediately moved to the point guard position, a position he hadn't played for the most part in his first three seasons, as he had moved to forward after being drafted by the Rockets in 2023. Thompson was familiar with the position, having played it throughout his career before entering the NBA. Still, playing point guard at the highest level is an entirely different ballgame, and the Rockets' coaches knew it would take some time for him to adjust to his new role.

Keep in mind, even though Thompson is the Rockets' point guard, he isn't always the primary ball handler. The Rockets sometimes have Durant at the top of the key running the offense, and other times, Alperen Sengun, so Thompson wasn't asked to do everything himself, yet he's still averaging a career high in assists. Thompson has been even better over the last five games as the Rockets are starting to build momentum heading into the All-Star break.

Amen Thompson in the last five games has been playing at another level as a point guard

Thompson prior to the last five games was already having a career year and as mentioned earlier was setting career marks in assist as well. In the last five games four of which the Rockets have won Thompson has taken it to another level. Coming off his career high 14 assist in the Rockets 108-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Thompson is amongst the best in the league in assist the last five games.

Thompson is averaging 8.4 assists and only 2.2 turnovers during that time, ranking eighth in assists per game and third in total assists, only behind Luka Doncic and James Harden. The turnover total is as impressive as the assist numbers, as Thompson has done a great job of not only facilitating but keeping the turnover number low, which is something any good point guard needs to do on a nightly basis.

Thompson may never be a traditional point guard and that is perfectly fine because that is what makes him one of the most unique players in the NBA as he can excel at multiple positions and will only get better which is bad news for the rest of the NBA.