Locked on Pistons doing prospect shows.

[Pistonrings]

I just watched Ku at Locked On Pistons podcast on YouTube. He has just started doing deep research on the top 5 prospects.

I must say, I was shocked at how excited he got after checking into Amen Thompson. He actually said that AT will be the best athlete on the floor 99 percent of the time. He even says his ceiling is "SUPERSTAR" I hadn't heard this kind of praise about him and Ku seemed to be very surprised once he started checking him out deeply.

Is Ku overboard here or are people missing just how special this kid is?
This is a good watch. I am excited to see the other top prospects get delved into like this.

Watch on YouTube

[Pharaoh]

37 minutes? Surely there's actually scouting vids on YouTube about Amen?

I'll try to find some

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[vege]

I just watched Ku at Locked On Pistons podcast on YouTube. He has just started doing deep research on the top 5 prospects.

I must say, I was shocked at how excited he got after checking into Amen Thompson. He actually said that AT will be the best athlete on the floor 99 percent of the time. He even says his ceiling is "SUPERSTAR" I hadn't heard this kind of praise about him and Ku seemed to be very surprised once he started checking him out deeply.

Is Ku overboard here or are people missing just how special this kid is?
This is a good watch. I am excited to see the other top prospects get delved into like this.

Watch on YouTube

Ku is cool and his content is good (usually) but he is a guy who's still super high on Killian Hayes, so you can't take everything he says super serious.

[Pharaoh]

https://youtu.be/WDJHiW4CGQ8

From Hoop Intellect

Not sure how good the channel is but 15 minutes

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[DETermination]

I like the Thompson twins a lot. They seem like good kids and both have a great work ethic. I just wish they could shoot. I'm a little more optimistic in Ausar's shooting as his form doesn't seem bad but Amen has a ton of work to do on his form. I still think I'd prefer Cam Whitmore or Taylor Hendricks over the twins if we fall to 4/5 but I wouldn't be mad if we took one of them.

[Pistonrings]

37 minutes? Surely there's actually scouting vids on YouTube about Amen?

I'll try to find some

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38 minutes, but all Pistons content. I have seen other stuff on this kid but I was struck at how surprised Ku was at what he found when looking in to this kid. Saying he'll be the best athlete on the floor most all the time and saying he could become a superstar was high praise indeed. Just wondering if there is a higher upside to his potential than what most are figuring.

[The Moose]

37 minutes? Surely there's actually scouting vids on YouTube about Amen?

I'll try to find some

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38 minutes, but all Pistons content. I have seen other stuff on this kid but I was struck at how surprised Ku was at what he found when looking in to this kid. Saying he'll be the best athlete on the floor most all the time and saying he could become a superstar was high praise indeed. Just wondering if there is a higher upside to his potential than what most are figuring.

I’m not sure I understand. This is the consensus opinion amongst pretty much every major draft analyst. It’s the reason why he’s projected to go 3–5 in basically every mock draft.

[mattao313]

Both twins have broken jumpers. Not just the 3 ball but can't shoot outside the paint bad.

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[theBigLip]

As mentioned, this does seem to be the consensus. Super athlete that can’t shoot. In today’s game, you’ve got to have shooters. Maybe not expecting much from your center (although that’s a big advantage- like Lopez). But it is needed from everyone else. It becomes obvious in the playoffs where defenses just sag off you and it’s 4 on 5.

So can his shot be fixed or is he Ben Simmons? I don’t know the answer but that’s certainly the question.

[Drwho17]

I don't think anyone knows how this guy will turn out, yea he can't shoot, but he hasn't really needed to. I don't think this is a guy the Pistons should consider in the top 5 though, too much of a project and he's essentially a PG maybe, or a SG that can't shoot a slightly taller Diallo, except much younger and maybe the shot can improve.

[Kalamazoo317]

Big difference between what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the Overtime Elite versus what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the NBA.

I suppose if we think we need wing defense enough that we can put more non-shooters on the floor, he's worth considering, but this really seems like an offense-first league right now.

[theBigLip]

Big difference between what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the Overtime Elite versus what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the NBA.

Good point.

[zeebneeb]

Big difference between what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the Overtime Elite versus what you can accomplish as a non-shooter in the NBA.

I suppose if we think we need wing defense enough that we can put more non-shooters on the floor, he's worth considering, but this really seems like an offense-first league right now.

The "league" they are coming from is not somewhere i would trust picking someone at 3-5.

You add the hideous jumper both of these two have, and alarm bells are going off all over the damn place for me. If the Pistons end up with 4 or 5, I would steer clear of the Twins, and let someone else take the risk.

[Spider156]

I like the Thompson twins a lot. They seem like good kids and both have a great work ethic. I just wish they could shoot. I'm a little more optimistic in Ausar's shooting as his form doesn't seem bad but Amen has a ton of work to do on his form. I still think I'd prefer Cam Whitmore or Taylor Hendricks over the twins if we fall to 4/5 but I wouldn't be mad if we took one of them.

Amen Thompson could very well be the best player in the draft. He’s got all the tools, it’s just a jumpshot and at 19 the world is in front of you. He’s absolutely a great piece to draft but he’s a project so he doesn’t fit our timeline. We got enough projects. I wouldn’t be surprised though if he becomes a big star because he’s a vicious dunker and has a strong crossover with great size. He just doesn’t fit our timeline and I’d rather trade down with someone who loves him more for two more picks for 3 more shots a great young player.

[Kalamazoo317]

The defense is the one thing that makes me like Amen (goodness knows we could use on ball defense). Also, seems like he has good court vision and is a good playmaker. But sounds like he's an iffy free throw shooter and his offense relies on having spacing around him or running in transition. We'll never have a good halfcourt offense if all we have is guys who need to be in the paint.

On offense, "off-ball juice" is the number one thing I'm looking for when it comes to building our team. Cade and Ivey should have the ball the majority of the time, IMO. What do you contribute on offense when you don't have the ball in your hand? Can you stretch the floor? Are you a connective playmaker? Answers to these questions have me iffy on Amen and low on Scoot for us. The size and defense might have me considering Amen over Scoot, but the lack of a jumpshot is really scary for Amen.

[Crymson]

I just watched Ku at Locked On Pistons podcast on YouTube. He has just started doing deep research on the top 5 prospects.

I must say, I was shocked at how excited he got after checking into Amen Thompson. He actually said that AT will be the best athlete on the floor 99 percent of the time. He even says his ceiling is "SUPERSTAR" I hadn't heard this kind of praise about him and Ku seemed to be very surprised once he started checking him out deeply.

Is Ku overboard here or are people missing just how special this kid is?

Amen could be very, very good if he gets his shot together. That's a big if. He isn't a case of a player (e.g. Jaylen Brown) who shot a bad percentage with respectable form. Amen's form is thoroughly broken. His bricks are ugly. And his FT% (which is a decent predictor of future success from the perimeter) was awful. That's a LOT of red flags. And if Amen can't get it together as a shooter, he'll be as subject as anyone else to the immensely negative consequences of being a perimeter player who can't shoot.

So yeah, high-ceiling but risky.

As others have noted, there's also the fact that he's coming out of a Mickey Mouse league. The OTE is a joke. He's probably got more to work on than is evident from his time playing there, as the competition was horrible. But I believe that the upside to be an elite NBA player is there.

As for the Pistons, he's a possession-heavy handler who can't shoot and will need time. Not a good fit, as I see it.

I did a long podcast episode about both of the Thompson twins: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5is0vH403YYRr614RALeg9?si=MJhX34NCR-yVICo1u0-1KQ

[Kalamazoo317]

Sounds like Ben Simmons without being a headcase. But even before the mental issues, Simmons was increasingly difficult to build a competitive team around, despite his talents.

[vic]

Everything Ku is saying about Amen is spot on... including that he is only going to be a star in the absolute perfect situation.

Spurs could use him.
Houston could use him.
A veteran team with shooters and a primary ballhandler in their late 20s/early 30s could use him.

Pistons cannot use him! He is a bad shooter and has to have the ball in his hands. Cade/ivey are good enough ball handlers and much better shooters than Amen. Pistons do not need another bad shooter on the team AT ALL.

[whitehops]

weirdly amen kind of reminds me of josh giddey. amen is obviously way more athletic but doesn't have quite as good a feel for the game (though that's not a weakness for amen by any stretch). both are hampered by their lack of shooting ability but play the game similarly.

it's understandable to get excited about amen as a prospect overall and BPA is usually the way to go in most situations but i think we're in one of the few situations where grabbing a lead ball-handling guard is less preferable to an off-ball wing/forward.

if we only had one of cade or ivey i'd be much higher on scoot and amen this draft but given what they've shown i think bumping those two down our big board would be wise. that said, the sheer athleticism of ivey/amen/duren on the floor at the same time would be crazy.

[bstein14]

Amen is going to be a good player even if he can't shoot great a combination of (better than Killian's) playmaking and defense with nearly Diallo's athleticism plus he's a solid rebounder with size and length. He very much could be a 16, 6, 6 type player in the NBA in year one even though he's likely to not be very efficient scoring those 16 points per game.