Is Rockets front office too high on Amen Thompson?

I want the answer to be no.

Full transparency: Thompson is my favorite player in the NBA. I’ve not kept that a secret.

Yet, as a writer, I am tethered to reality. Thompson is not the best player in the NBA. He’s not even in that ballpark – at least*, not by any publicly available metric.

Advertisement

*Em dash usage does not denote AI usage.

It seems the Rockets’ proprietary metrics have unearthed a secret. HoopsCollective’s Tim MacMahon is reporting that the Rockets’ own data has Thompson as one of the ten most valuable players in the NBA.

Is that remotely possible?

Rockets’ Thompson has sneaky impact

DataBallr does not share the Rockets’ conviction.

Their Daily Plus/Minus (DPM) metric, which aims to “estimate player impact on expected team scoring differential per 100 possessions, with teammate/opponent effects controlled”, has Thompson at +1.2.

That’s good. It’s in the 92nd percentile. It’s also not even in the same zip code as the top-10. It’s not in the top-30. It’s so far down that I stopped counting, and you’ll have to either do it for yourself or just live with the 92nd percentile.

Advertisement

Dunks and Threes Estimated Plus/Minus (EPM) paints a similar picture. Thompson’s +2.7 is in, again, the 92nd percentile.

It’s sure starting to feel like Thompson is roughly in the 92nd percentile in impact!

Is it possible that, while the publicly available stuff has Thompson in (to reiterate) the 92nd percentile, the Rockets’ internal metrics have him closer to the 98th? You’d have to ask a statistician, but it feels unlikely.

So what’s going on here?

Rockets right to regard Thompson highly

Now, if the Rockets’ actual internal view is that Thompson is one, say, of the last ten NBA players who should be traded, that feels more viable.

Advertisement

Thompson compared favourably to his peers in EPM in 2025-26. Among his draft mates, only Victor Wembanyama (99th) and Brandon Miller (95th) are in higher percentiles. The latter benefited from an elite playmaker in LaMelo Ball, and the former is Victor Wembanyama.

Moreover, that was an especially strong class. Thompson is in the same percentile as notable young guys like Scottie…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rockets-front-office-too-high-092109677.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-09-16 09:21:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.