Amen & Ausar Thompson - Potential 2022 NBA Draft Guys

[God Squad]

All you need to know about either kid, in 60 seconds.

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That ish was pathetic lol

[deepeeenn]

All you need to know about either kid, in 60 seconds.

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Wow. I might be reading too much into this but that kind of says alot. Both seems to have never done this before… And Amen being the “PG” of the two couldn’t, but I’m sure he’d figure it out.

Just to be clear, I think the both have the desire and ability to be good pros. They’ll figure things out but I think the learning curve is steep for both to play in structured offenses. Ausur will be able to fit more seemlessly and Amen will have a harder time trying to learn how to run an NBA offense in the half court.

[Catchall]

Amen Thompson has worked out for Portland and Houston so far. Anyone else?

[BostonCouchGM]

All you need to know about either kid, in 60 seconds.

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That ish was pathetic lol

yeah, I'm taking them off my board completely. This is unacceptable

[God Squad]

All you need to know about either kid, in 60 seconds.

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That ish was pathetic lol

yeah, I'm taking them off my board completely. This is unacceptable

I'm not going that far, but it really is unacceptable. Honestly, felt embarrassed just watching the video.

[CptCrunch]

I'm just here to put my name on list of doubters on draft day.

By my estimates, these kids have an immediate bust chance akin to Johnny Davis. 50% chance looking lost day one as not even belonging in the NBA, demoted to G-League, out of the league in 3 years.

[EvanZ]

I'm just here to put my name on list of doubters on draft day.

By my estimates, these kids have an immediate bust chance akin to Johnny Davis. 50% chance looking lost day one as not even belonging in the NBA, demoted to G-League, out of the league in 3 years.

They might be good eventually, but I can guarantee if they are not, people will be like "Well we couldn't have known they'd be bad!" and "Everyone had them going this high!"

There are 3 types of Thompson Twin observers: True Believers, Atheists, and Agnostics..I consider myself in the third camp. I get that there's some world where they are awesome, but I just didn't really feel confident enough to make that judgement based on what I saw in that dumpster fire OTE league. And since the draft is only going to be more and more important in the next CBA I'd rather use that draft capital on something I have more ability to project confidently (as opposed to just penciling in a Thompson twin where Givony has them, which is what everyone seems to be doing).

[The Moose]

I feel relatively agnostic towards them at this point. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking them where they are projected and likely to go (4 and 5), but I also don't think they're a bad bet in the 2nd half of the lottery, partly because I think the top of the draft outside of Wemby isn't particularly strong this class.

There's at least 7 or 8 guys I would feel far more comfortable betting in this class, but after that group is gone, I can understand someone taking the swing.

[Saints14]

I hope they end up being good, that would be great for the league, but I wouldn't be the GM to take a chance on the first major OTE prospects in the lottery. Just have no idea what to make of their stats there. But if nothing else the twins will be a valuable data point for OTE as a prep league

[K_chile22]

I think people are overstating how bad the comp is because of how.. unenjoyable the watch is. In the playoffs theyre up against almost entirely 4 and 5 star recruits. A team of 4&5 star recruits beats lower major college teams. Being reluctant about style of play maybe making them look better than they are is a more legit concern but I think they're really good (Ausar less than Amen, have Ausar more in the 8-10 range, Amen clear #3) and we see guys picked high from worse comp all the time. Sharpe went 7th on EYBL tape alone and looks like he probably should have gone a bit higher just last year

[Big J]

I don’t see how they are busts. At the very least they are elite athletes and have ball handling and passing skills. They can defend at a high level. They should be able to do what Ben Simmons did before he turned to ****.

[K_chile22]

I don’t see how they are busts. At the very least they are elite athletes and have ball handling and passing skills. They can defend at a high level and they can shoot free throws, so getting fouled isn’t an issue. They should be able to do what Ben Simmons did before he turned to ****.

Yeah it's very hard to see how they're just out of the league, especially Amen. He has a better floor than he gets credit for it's just as a fundamentally different player type than the one he is if he hits. He's literally the exact same size as Herb Jones except a 1st%tile athlete that can handle and pass. Like, why can't he be a defensive wing who attacks off the catch/cuts/plays as a small pnr roller a la a supercharged younger Bruce Brown or KJ Martin? Seems like a pretty solid floor as a supercharged version of those dudes. If he hits he's a lead guard, if not he's still a very useful player

[DOT]

I dunno, I just think scouting them is out of my wheelhouse

The only thing I can say for sure is that they're NBA caliber athletes. Everything else I can't judge cause like, it's OTE. Anybody would look good in that environment if they were that athletic

It's entirely possible their ball handling and passing translates to the NBA, but it's also entirely possible it doesn't. The skill gap between the OTE kids and even college kids is huge, and you can go watch guys who can't dribble in the NBA pulling out all sorts of dribble moves in empty gyms or at pickup games

They're just raw potential to me. I'll be interested to see their development, but from a safe distance.

[Big J]

I dunno, I just think scouting them is out of my wheelhouse

The only thing I can say for sure is that they're NBA caliber athletes. Everything else I can't judge cause like, it's OTE. Anybody would look good in that environment if they were that athletic

It's entirely possible their ball handling and passing translates to the NBA, but it's also entirely possible it doesn't. The skill gap between the OTE kids and even college kids is huge, and you can go watch guys who can't dribble in the NBA pulling out all sorts of dribble moves in empty gyms or at pickup games

They're just raw potential to me. I'll be interested to see their development, but from a safe distance.

The idea that these twins couldn’t do what they did against future accountants is laughable. Their athleticism & ball handling alone give them solid floors. It’s really not that hard to project.

[DOT]

& ball handling alone

It's entirely possible their ball handling and passing translates to the NBA, but it's also entirely possible it doesn't. The skill gap between the OTE kids and even college kids is huge, and you can go watch guys who can't dribble in the NBA pulling out all sorts of dribble moves in empty gyms or at pickup games

[Colbinii]

I dunno, I just think scouting them is out of my wheelhouse

The only thing I can say for sure is that they're NBA caliber athletes. Everything else I can't judge cause like, it's OTE. Anybody would look good in that environment if they were that athletic

It's entirely possible their ball handling and passing translates to the NBA, but it's also entirely possible it doesn't. The skill gap between the OTE kids and even college kids is huge, and you can go watch guys who can't dribble in the NBA pulling out all sorts of dribble moves in empty gyms or at pickup games

They're just raw potential to me. I'll be interested to see their development, but from a safe distance.

Amen also has good passing instincts.

I think Amen should be Top 5 given his potential.

As for Ausar, I am a bit lower on him. I think anywhere from 8-13 seems fair for him.

I personally wouldn't take either player if I were a GM [I am not a GM], but that doesn't mean I can't ignore the potential, even if it isn't very likely.

[mattao313]

I don’t see how they are busts. At the very least they are elite athletes and have ball handling and passing skills. They can defend at a high level. They should be able to do what Ben Simmons did before he turned to ****.

Josh Jackson is a huge bust same type of player.

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[Big J]

I don’t see how they are busts. At the very least they are elite athletes and have ball handling and passing skills. They can defend at a high level. They should be able to do what Ben Simmons did before he turned to ****.

Josh Jackson is a huge bust same type of player.

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Yea, but Josh Jackass was also a dumbass who vandalized people’s property and got into trouble with the law. He’d still be in the league if he had these kids work ethic and character.

[SeattleJazzFan]

in talking about ote competition there three facts that can't be disputed.

1) it's a league made up of HS kids. kids age 15-20. so it's a HS league.

2) and this is really just an appendage of #1, but the second best team in the league was taken to the woodshed by the 14th (by espn) ranked HS team in the country (and absolutely dominated by their 15 year old star player). iow, the best OTE teams are equivalent to a very high level hs team, but not on the level of the most elite HS teams.

3. the thompson twins were 20 year olds playing in said HS league.

doesn't mean they can't be very good nba players - but to argue the competition isn't questionable for a couple 20 year old dudes is just silly.

[HiDef]

in talking about ote competition there three facts that can't be disputed.

1) it's a league made up of HS kids. kids age 15-20. so it's a HS league.

2) and this is really just an appendage of #1, but the second best team in the league was taken to the woodshed by the 14th (by espn) ranked HS team in the country (and absolutely dominated by their 15 year old star player). iow, the best OTE teams are equivalent to a very high level hs team, but not on the level of the most elite HS teams.

3. the thompson twins were 20 year olds playing in said HS league.

doesn't mean they can't be very good nba players - but to argue the competition isn't questionable for a couple 20 year old dudes is just silly.

To add to this, Gortman (the best OTE prospect other than them, best player on the #2 team) just looked like a boy among men at the NBA combine. the physicality destroyed him and his stock fell off a cliff

Still high on Amen, because he's good enough to make sure nobody ever touches him