The One Good and One Bad Part of Amen Thompson’s Game This Season

The Houston Rockets are hoping that Amen Thompson can continue his improvements from last season while fixing the biggest issue in his game

May 1, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) shoots outside against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets finished their season over a month ago with another first round loss this time at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. The loss was the Rockets second straight first round loss after several seasons of being in the lottery as they rebuilt their roster basically from the ground up.

The Rockets have made some improvements, especially over the last few seasons, as they continue to evaluate their many lottery picks. The Rockets were hoping to accelerate their success on the court with the addition of Kevin Durant last offseason. The hope was that, alongside a future Hall of Famer, the young core would take that next step and the Rockets would be a championship contender, going deep into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, those plans were derailed before they even started, with injuries to Fred VanVleet and, eventually, Steven Adams. VanVleet would miss the entire season, while Adams would miss the last few months of the season.

Of course, both injuries caused major issues for the Rockets, but the VanVleet injury especially stung because it changed what the Rockets wanted to do with young players like Reed Sheppard and especially Amen Thompson.

Thompson, alongside Alperen Sengun, has been the Rockets player who has progressed the most amongst the young core. Thompson had a career year in points and assists and just missed out on a second straight All-Defensive Team selection. Despite the team's up-and-down season, Thompson improved in many areas from last season but still has room to grow.

The One Area in Which Amen Thompson Excelled, and the Area He Took a Step Back in 2025-26

Throughout his short career, Thompson has proven to be one of the Rockets' best players on the defensive end and this past season on the offensive end as well. Thompson had a career high in points, finishing with 18.3 points a game and a career high in free-throw percentage.

Thompson took on a bigger role on the offensive end, even with the addition of Durant. That was the plan even before the injury to VanVleet, but it became even more of a need for the Rockets after VanVleet went down with his season-ending injury. Thompson proved he can be more than just a defensive standout, as his 18 points per game proved throughout the season.

The improvement in scoring was a welcome sign for the young guard, but one area he still struggles with on offense is his outside shooting, specifically his 3-point shooting.

Thompson showed some improvement at the end of the 2024-25 season as he increased his corner 3-point shooting percentage, and it seemed he was ready for an even better season from beyond the arc after a strong preseason. However, that was not the case as Thompson saw his percentage drop from .275 to .216 in 2025-26.

Thompson has worked on his shot from day one and has shown improvement from the mid-range, but outside the arc is still a struggle, as teams make a point to back off Thompson because he is one of the most athletic and quickest players in the NBA.

For Thompson to finally take the next step from young and up-and-coming star to star player, he has to improve in this area on the court. As mentioned earlier, Thompson improved from the mid-range throughout the season, and the Rockets' organization hopes he can make that leap to compete with the top teams in the NBA, finally, because if he can, that might be exactly what the Rockets need to compete with the top teams in the NBA, finally.