Rockets Recruiting ADVANTAGE With Ime Udoka | Amen Thompson EMERGING As NBA’s Next SUPERSTAR?

Rockets Recruiting ADVANTAGE With Ime Udoka | Amen Thompson EMERGING As NBA’s Next SUPERSTAR?

On today’s show, why Emmeodoka is the Houston Rocket secret weapon in a potential star pursuit this off seasonason. Amen Thompson emerging as a star in his own right. NBA playoff lessons and more. It’s all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets. This is Mission Control Houston. Ignition sequence start. 6 5 4 3 2 1. What’s up and welcome to another edition of Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. As always, I’m your host Jackson Gatlin, native Houstononian and credentialed media member. I’m also the host of Locked on NBA Thursdays. Be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. Just search Locked on Rockets, where the best way you can help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like, comment, subscribe on YouTube. And as always, thanks so much for making Lockdown Rockets part of your day every single day, whether it’s on your way to work, on your lunch break, in the gym. Thank you so much for being an everydayer. On today’s show, we’re going to get into uh a couple lessons from these NBA playoffs that I wanted to discuss here on the show as we’re getting ready to uh prepare for the tip off of the NBA finals a little bit later this week between the Thunder and Pacers. Should be honestly a fantastic finals. Um, even though that, oh my god, the ESPN ratings, it’s going to be an incredible finals between a a historic defensive Thunder team and a high octane offensive Pacers team. I’m I’m very hyped for that finals. Um, also want to talk a little bit about Amen Thompson emerging as one of the young stars in today’s NBA, garnering not only recognition from his teammates, but also from national media as well. And then where we’re going to start things off today is actually uh talking about Rockets head coach Eime Udoka and how he is actually really feels like could be the Rockets secret weapon when it comes to their potent maybe not so much secret weapon but uh you know he presents uh a I guess a bargaining chip that not that other teams don’t have uh as far as potential star negotiations or star pursuits this off season. And we’re actually going to throw this out to is a good friend of the program, Sports Illustrated, Chris Manx, who was on the Rich Eisen Show talking about the Rockets and Emoa the other day. Durant, where does he sit in all those here? He’s the one guy I’m most certain will be traded. Okay. The team that I’m still watching the closest is going to be Houston. Um, can Houston make a play for Giannis? I’m sure they would love to. Can Houston make a play for Jaylen Brown? Eay Odoka and Jaylen Brown go way back. Eay loves Jaylen. Um that would probably be next on their list. But if those two guys are not available and Kevin Durant is still on the board, I I think they’d explore it. I’ve reported in the past there has been mutual interest between Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets. Kevin played for Eay Yodoka when Eime was an assistant in Brooklyn. Every player in the league loves Emeoka. Every player wants to play for Eay Odoka. That’s a real asset that the Rockets have. And Kevin, I’m sure, not to speak for him, but I’m sure he’s looking at that situation going, “Hey, they just need a score. You know, they can defend. They need somebody to supplement Alper and Sangon. That would be a good situation. It’s not ideal for Houston because of the age of Kevin Durant. He’ll probably want a new contract when he gets traded. It doesn’t really fit their timeline, but if you can add Kevin Durant to a team of Ahmed Thompson, Fred Van Vleet, you know, Alrren Sangon, you got a team that can compete in the West. All right. So, first off, I hate that, you know, well, great. I I look a lot of the same arguments that I’ve made about Kevin Durant in the past. Um, what I want to focus on here though is, you know, this idea that, you know, the the Rockets with EOD as their head coach. I there are so many there’s so many variables, so many factors that play into, you know, players and specifically star players making their decisions about where they want to be next. And largely we’re not talking about you know free agency here. We’re not um we are living in the player empowerment era of the NBA which means that players largely dictate where they go especially star players players like Jiannis and Sedakmpo Kevin Durant Devin Booker Jaylen Brown all these guys all these guys are going to have a pretty strong say in ultimately where they get dealt largely because organizations know that if you you know if you treat a player poorly if you don’t listen to them if you just jettison them to a bad team or whatever for the, you know, best available offer, then that player’s agent will talk and then other players will talk and then, you know, you’ll be looked upon, you’ll be looked down upon when it comes to, you know, uh, being a potential destination. Now, some teams can probably get away with that more than other teams can, big market, small market, that kind of thing. But the Rockets have all these, you know, there are all these things that are attractive about the Rockets, about Houston geographically as a city, um about where this team is at organizationally coming off a 52- win season. They’re one of the, you know, most young exciting upandcoming teams in the league. They’ve got a ton of future assets to be able to and and young talent to be able to throw in a potential star trade. So, so they have the ammunition to pull off a star trade, but maybe and and maybe I don’t I don’t I don’t want to overstate things here, but maybe it is the most important factor here is would a star player want to come to Houston, right? Would a star player want to play for this Rocket team? And in in particular, would a star player want to play for Eime Udoka? And the and it’s a resounding yes. And that’s the really huge benefit here for the Rockets when you factor in what they could be trying to achieve this off seasonason, any potential star pursuit, whether it’s any of the names we’ve mentioned or some, you know, mystery darkhorse candidate that’s out there. Um, you know, players do really love playing for Eay. He’s a players coach. He gets along amazing with all the players on the Rockets roster and is so widely respected around the entire association that it’s no surprise that there are star players out there that would look at Houston as a situation be like, “Yeah, I would love to go there and I’d love to play for EA.” And that’s important. And and to draw, you know, a parallel here, right, one of the other leading contenders in this potential, you know, Giannis sweep stakes, right, is the San Antonio Spurs. And we can argue, okay, who has the better trade package between the Rockets and Spurs? And what would the Rockets look like if they had to include Shingun and a Giannis deal? And would they be, you know, is it is it the right move, the wrong move, setting aside all of that, right? Where would Giannis want to be, right? You start factoring in some of those, like what what does the player themselves want? And first off, I think when you’re comparing cities, um, Houston versus San Antonio, no contest, Houston, uh, clean sweep. But that being said, like I think you also have to look like coaching is a big element here, right? And and with the Spurs, with, you know, the the transition, you know, the the official end of the Greg Papovic era, right? Like nothing against Mitch Johnson, but like I don’t think he really holds a candle to emodoka, right? as far as if you were just to compare those two guys in a in like a coaching vacuum. So, I do think that Emodoka presents a very unique kind of bargaining chip that the Houston Rockets have compared to other teams in the association when it comes to any potential star pursuit. And that is likely going to be a pretty significant factor this off seasonason with any of the rumblings, any of the rumors, any of the trade speculation that you hear. Factor in coaching, right? Factor in that the Rockets were a top five team this past season. And yes, they went seven games with the Warriors and ultimately lost. But this situation, right, EMA being here for only two years, going 41 and 41 year 1, and then posting 52 wins, top five defense, uh, top five team in the NBA this past season with an incredibly young squad and still so much room to grow. There are there have to be a lot of players looking at this Rocket situation and thinking, I could be the piece that takes that team over the top. I could be the piece that pa that, you know, brings the Rockets from being a 52- win team to a 60- win team and puts us, you know, puts puts Houston on the same level as the OKC Thunder. Um, and any player that feels that strongly about looking at Houston as their potential next destination, you know, star players like that, again, player empowerment era, likely be able to find a way to uh not I won’t say force their way to Houston, but at least uh make things interesting as far as uh trying to maneuver their way to Houston, I should say. So, I just thought it was an important element to bring up and something definitely worth keeping in mind and considering as we navigate this off seasonason for the Houston Rockets. Coming up, uh the Rockets do have one of their uh a blossoming star in their own right, Amen Thompson, garnering recognition from his teammates and leaguewide. Uh could we be in store for a men Thompson breakout next season? We’re going to get there in just one moment. 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No missed calls, no missed customers. And continuing on here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. All right, let’s talk a little Amen Thompson here, who is blossoming as one of the young stars in today’s NBA, garnering recognition not just from his own teammates, uh we’ll hear from Jock Landale here in just a moment, but also leaguewide recognition. Uh let’s hear what Jock had to say about Amen. Amen. Thompson’s going to be an all-star next year and if he’s not an all-star next year, that’s on him. How many years has he been around for now? Two. That was his second year. He’d be pushing for that most improved player award as well, wouldn’t he? Next year, for sure. You can see he’s about to just explode. Well, you forget that he only started starting, I think, when Jabari Smith Jr. went down with an injury like 60 games into the year or 50 games into the year. So, from there, he just blossomed and it was like, “Oh my god.” Like we knew that he was good, but I don’t think anyone was like, “Holy.” A lot of us at the end of last season were like, “This dude’s the future of the program.” And then to see that kind of come to fruition, we were like, “Yeah, like this dude’s something else.” Unbelievable guy. Unbel And again, I do not compliment this guy to his face. I love Shout out to Jollandelle. He’s all about the vibes. Um, look, this is um, you know, this is a w it’s this isn’t like a a scorching hot take or anything, but hearing hearing that level of recognition from one of Amen Thompson’s actual teammates, right, is is pretty eye opening that that they knew what he was capable of. They knew that he was a special talent. But then I mean we saw it right as as fans as media you know the moment that Amin Thompson was inserted as a starter the things that he was able to then do the production level skyrocketing and yes there were some inconsistencies with the Rockets starting lineup with Amin Thompson in place of Jabari Smith Jr. and there’s maybe some fit concerns. Um, you know, performance-wise, it it it still wound up over the course of the the season, it still wound up posting a negative net rating at the end of the day. Uh, which is problematic. Uh, so you’ve got to kind of try and figure out what the right pieces are. But in a vacuum, Amin Thompson’s talent is flat out undeniable. And it goes so far as like the other day ESPN was hosting a segment uh where they were discussing, you know, who some of the uh potential breakout stars in the NBA are next season. And I believe it was uh Brian Winhorse who who, you know, tagged Amin Thompson as his choice to be a breakout star next season. And and it very much felt like even even in the return of Jabari Smith Jr., Even though maybe from a I don’t want to say schematic standpoint, but just from like a fit perspective, right, Jabari with his his length, his rebounding, his shooting ability on the perimeter, you know, I think Jabari probably compliments the Rockets starting lineup a little bit better than Amen Thompson does. But Amen was just so good in such a variety of ways. Defensively, giving them another dynamic creator on offense, a downhill presence, another transition threat to play alongside Jaylen Green. like there was just so much that he brought to the table as a starter and it was kind of one of these things where it’s like okay we’ve seen you know rookie year Amin Thompson he enters the starting lineup when Alpen Shenun goes down and looks awesome as a rookie and then sophomore Amin Thompson enters the starting lineup once Jabari Smith Jr. goes down and then this time he doesn’t exit the starting lineup, right? It kind of felt like and I remember it when it happened, right? This was an argument or kind of a talking point during the season was a man is so good and is already so good here in year two that it kind of feels like this is going to be the last time that he’s ever not a starter, right? Him being inserted into the starting lineup as the injury replacement for Jabari very much felt like, okay, now Amin Thompson is a permanent long-term starting piece. Um, so now you have to figure out, you know, the right pieces around him. And so assuming right that Amin is a forever starter, Shingun is a forever starter. As long as Fred Van Vleet is here, he’s a forever starter. And then assuming that, you know, the Rockets don’t do anything with Jaylen Green and that he continues to, you know, be a part of this this organization, then he’ll likely continue to be a forever starter. The only piece that you could conceivably move around a little bit would be Dylan Brooks. Even Dylan Brooks was the Rockets most consistent perimeter scoring threat last season. So, you’ve got to figure out something different with the starting lineup moving forward, but the talent is there from Amin Thompson. And it’s cool to see him having, you know, again, the recognition from his teammates, the leaguewide recognition, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what kind of a leap he’s able to take this next year because it’s already felt like, you know, first off, he was an impactful rookie and that’s rare and he did a lot as a rookie. He started off, you know, tried to play on ball at first, wasn’t quite ready for it. Came back, played more in an offball role, then basically played as like offensively he played as the Rockets five once Shingun went down, setting a lot of screens, playing out of the dunker spot, um playing off ball, rebounding, crashing, all the different things that he did his rookie season. Then last year he leveled up by becoming more of an onball presence. Um working on his outside shooting. Uh his just overall competency and comfortability when it comes to getting downhill, finishing around the rim. He basically added that euro step to his game which kind of became like almost a go-to move for him getting downhill and you know right there at the rim getting to that little euro step. His little floater game where he would just elevate over the top of defenders and score with ease around the basket. The midi pull-ups. um just the overall entire offensive arsenal looking so much better and that and to also including the passing, the playmaking, right? So many different plays this past season that Am Thompson was able to make drive and kick opportunities, collapsing the defense, um kick out passes that were just absurd using his, you know, freak athleticism to be able to, you know, really draw the defense away from other guys and be able to create opportunities for his teammates. and you see how much he’s accomplished in two years. And it’s no wonder why it’s easy to look at him and be like, “Yeah, he’s a future star. Yeah, he’s a future not only just a future all-star, but a future like you can see, you know, top 10, top 15 player written all over him. Um, earning all NBA defensive first team honors this year is a massive accomplishment for a year two player. And so he’s going to be a year in year out all NBA defensive force. Like he’s going to be a two-way force for the next decade plus. And there’s still some, you know, some areas that he needs to round out and work on in his offensive game. Absolutely. The shooting kind of being the biggest one. Um I’d actually I I argued this point last offseason. I’d still maintain that it’s actually the handle is the biggest one. um as as he continues to work on and tighten up that handle, uh his ability to get downhill and that lightning quick first step, like it’s it’s going to be curtains for the league because he’s already got a a pretty reliable mid-range package, um the the floater game, the euro stepping, all that stuff. So, the outside shot would be nice if he could develop it, but I don’t think he’s ever going to need a true blue outside three-point shot to be an incredibly effective offensive piece. That’s that’s just how ridiculously good he is right now. And again, I’ve talked about it a couple different times, but seeing like kind of those that moment in game seven, the second half of game seven where Amin Thompson just tried like started trying to take over the game in the third quarter, like I feel like we’re going to be in store for a lot of those moments next year where we’re going to be in store for a Rockets team that is more catered to and built around the idea of a men Thompson as a focal point of the team, especially especially on the offensive end rather than being I I don’t want to say he was an afterthought at times offensively, but so much of the Rockets offense is built around Jaylen and Fred as the primary ball handlers, you know, running actions involving Shingun as the screener or Shingoon with the ball in his hands. And so Amin Thompson was at times kind of an afterthought offensively, right? Or he was a play finisher rather than a a you know, a play initiator or somebody who was, you know, had the rock in his hands and you know, breaking things down. Although we did see that from time to time, especially in the absence of Fred Van Vleet during his extended stretch that he missed time. But I think that that’s going to be one of the interesting steps this organization probably takes this next season with whatever iteration this team looks like is identifying, hey, Amin Thompson is a star caliber talent. Let’s start catering some of what we do around him and identifying, okay, what pieces, what players, what rotations, what lineups work best for him so that we can so that we can thrive and and allow him to continue to grow as as one of the future stars of the NBA. Like point blank, like he’s going to be a future future I I feel safe saying future superstar. Um, and at this point, like it’s nice to see the recognition that he’s getting from again internally, leaguewide. Um, the Rockets have have a serious talent on their hands with Amen Thompson. Uh, coming up, I do want to talk about a couple lessons learned from these NBA playoffs, uh, involving the, uh, Indiana Pacers, the OKC Thunder getting ready to start the NBA Finals. Uh, we’re going to get there in just one moment. First, today’s episode is brought to you by Better Help. Let’s talk about something that doesn’t really get talked about enough. men’s mental health. There’s this pressure to always keep things together, to perform, provide, and never show any weakness. But the truth is, real strength comes from opening up and taking care of your mental well-being. Every year, 6 million men in the US experience depression, and many go undiagnosed. But talking to someone, a friend, a loved one, or a therapist can make a huge difference. Look, I’m somebody I’ve done therapy in the past and I found it to be an incredibly cathartic experience to talk to an unbiased professional third party who can help you kind of walk through some of the day-to-day problems that you might be facing. Whether it’s with, you know, your your interpersonal relationships, your workplace relationships, whatever is going on in your life, therapy can help. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/lockedonba. That’s betterhelp hp.com/lockedonba. And final segment here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast, home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. All right. So, this is an observation that I had and it kind of relates to a lot of the talking points being discussed amongst Rockets fans right now and kind of where the the direction of this team and whatnot. And this idea of, you know, quote unquote, you know, timelines or matching timelines and and hell, even uh Chris Manx mentioned it, you know, when I ran his clip back in the first segment talking about Kevin Durant not necessarily matching this rocket’s timeline. And I think the idea of timelines is so overblown and and this is the the take that I want to get off get off my chest here and I want to use the Pacers as an example here because look they’re not even a full two years removed from the Pascal Seakkum trade. Um they made a conference finals appearance last season. They’re in the finals this year and they they’ve looked every bit a legitimate championship caliber contender uh you know really since the January point of this of this season. They’ve been phenomenal. And so a year and a half almost two years ago when they traded for Pascal Seakum, he’s 31 now. So he would have been 29 when they made the trade. Uh Tyresese Hallebertton would have been 23, maybe 24. Like there, you know, point is how many Rockets fans would have looked at that situation at the Pacers roster, how young they were, and thought, “Ah, don’t go after Seakum, right? He doesn’t match the timeline. He’s He’s too old. He’s He’s 29. He’s about to be 30. Like, you know, ju just don’t know. They need a young find a young star to pair with Tyresese Hallebertton. Right. That’s the argument that I that I hear so consistently amongst Rockets fans right now debating what the next move or moves are for this organization is that you don’t want to trade for a guy who doesn’t match the timeline of the younger players on the roster. If the Pacers had followed that logic, they wouldn’t have traded for Pascal Seakkum and they likely wouldn’t be in the finals right now. At the end of the day, talent wins out in the NBA. And and I really do think this idea of timelines is so overblown. And like again, using the KD one is like the most extreme example because he is 36. like he is he is that that is not like a a even remotely close like cuz Katie’s only got two maybe three years left tops as as a top tier caliber player and there are there is the history of injuries and you know there so there is some concern there his skill set should age beautifully though but even using KD as the example the idea here is so simple that that I I I really you know it makes so much sense to me and I know that there are a number of Rockets fans that are very much on board with this idea. You know, when you see the team in its, you know, and the struggles that they faced this past season, the biggest glaring weakness being not having that go-to score, not having that go-to guy in crunch time, not being able to, you know, cobble together just enough offense to win games. And that’s what Kevin Durant is. He’s literally a walking bucket. He’s like a cheat code offensively. And even though he doesn’t necessarily match the Rockets timeline, again, that idea to me is so overblown because if you could get Kevin Durant and be a legitimate contending force for at least the next two to three years until he, you know, retires, hangs him up, whatever, his career runs its course. you know, you I I feel like you do that and then you just revisit and you figure things out from that point on as long as it’s not going to hamstring you long term, then I really don’t see necessarily any downside to doing it because look, the the Pacers are going to be now it’s it’s not quite as drastic of a comparison here, but the Pacers are going to be in a similar situation, right? when Tyresese Hallebertton is hitting his his prime, you know, 28, 29, 30 years old, Seakum’s going to be 35, 36, whatever, and and he’s going to be aging out. So, the Pacers are going to be in a position somewhere down the line where they’re going to have to revisit and and re, you know, retool and figure out, okay, well, how, you know, how do we who do we go out there? Who do we find as the potential, you know, new co-star next to Tyrese Hallebertton? And that’s the thing is, you know, the Rockets I just I feel so strongly about Amin Thompson being a future star. Hell, we just spent a whole segment talking about Aen Thompson blossoming into the one of the young stars in today’s NBA that you know if Am Thompson is going to be that guy somewhere down the line, you know, whether it’s hell, it could be as early as next season that he really takes off. But if he’s going to be that guy, then when do you start putting the right pieces around them? When do you start making, you know, moves to elevate the team and be able to start winning at the highest of levels? And and that’s what the Pacers did. They identified Tyrese’s Hallebertton. They were like, “This is our star. We know we have a superstar with Tyrese’s Hallebertton. Let’s go get him the help that he needs. Let’s go get him a, you know, a Robin to his Batman.” And the Rockets, it just kind of feels like they haven’t really identified who their Batman is. Shingun has kind of been that guy by necessity because he’s just been the most consistent, you know, force, the most productive of all the young guys. A and so EA has leaned into that and Shingun has been, you know, this this monster big man for this team. He took a massive step back with his efficiency this season. That was problematic. But, you know, they don’t necessarily have their true 1A guy just yet. And I really feel strongly that Amin Thompson can and will be that guy. But if he’s not going to be that guy for another two to three years, then what do you do? Do you just sit on your hands while you wait for that to happen? That seems that doesn’t seem advisable, right? Why not go get a guy who can help fill that void temporarily? Be your go-to guy, be your crunch time, bucket getter, whatever, for the next couple seasons. Take some of the pressure off the young guys and then still allows them the room to grow, to mature, to become the face of the organization, the face of the franchise down the line. And then maybe in two to three years when KD’s ready to hang him up for good, Amin Thompson is that guy. He is a top 15, top 10 player. And Shingun’s still playing like one of the best big men in the NBA. And even if the Rockets, you know, if even if KD just retires and they lose KD for nothing at the end of a two to threeear window, if you didn’t give up a ton to get him in the first place, then at least you were competitive for that window. You got a ton of experience for the young guys. Like, hell, maybe you maybe you sneak in there and win a title or two. Like, it’s it’s a distinct possibility. Like, you know, I look at this Rockets team and I see that their biggest glaring weakness was on the offensive end and their inability to just get buckets when they needed them. And if there’s one guy in the NBA that can get you buckets at the highest of levels in crunch time, regardless of who’s defending him, it’s that dude, Kevin Durant. And so, like, I don’t know. I I I feel like the more that I talk about it, I you know, I I I have like so much fallen in love with the idea of like going after Katie, assuming the price is reasonable. Um, and I really feel like that could be a move that takes the rockets over the top. And we know that there’s that we know that there’s been mutual interest there in the past. We know that there’s a strong relationship between KD and Emma Odoka. and so many different signs are screaming the Rockets need to go after KD. In fact, the the the Phoenix Suns uh have been aggressively trying to uh contact the Rockets about reclaiming their draft capital from Houston. So, that’s something we’ll talk about in our next episode. Some great uh intel and reporting from the athletics Kelly Eco that we’ll revisit. But um with all that being said, whether it’s KD, whether it’s Devin Booker, whether it’s Giannis, Jaylen Brown, like this idea of timelines and a player needing to, you know, match the timeline of the rest of the young young Houston Rockets, I think it is kind of overblown. And I think the Pacers are a fantastic example of making a trade for a star player that fit a need that meshed well with your existing star and that elevated your team from being just a good team to being a legitimate contender. Um, and now the Pacers are reaping the benefits of of making that, you know, making that that big swing. And the Rockets are one of those teams this off seasonason that are in a prime position to make a big swing like that instead of just sitting on and and and hoping for the internal development. There’s a chance that internal development takes place, but the likelihood of internal development being the sole factor in getting this team over the top and closing the gap between where they are currently at and where they need to be at in order to eventually at some point get past the OKC Thunder because that’s the reality of the situation is this Thunder team is a dynasty in the making. SGA is a legitimate year-in-ear out MVP candidate. Chat, JDub, legitimate star players. That big three, as long as they keep them together, the the ancillary pieces around them might change and shuffle around over the years, but as long as OKC keeps that big three together, they are going to be contending for titles for the next 5 to 10 years. And that is going to be the team to beat in the Western Conference each and every season that the Rockets are going to have to find a way to eventually match up against and potentially overcome if they want to be able to win a title. And so in order to do that, maybe it happens with internal development, but a big swing certainly feels like the more surefire way to catch up to what OKC has built. I definitely want your thoughts on everything we discussed in today’s episode. Emodoka as the Rockets secret recruiting weapon this off season. Amin Thompson blossoming as a star. Maybe we see a massive year three leap from him next season. And the idea of timelines and the Rockets maybe making a big swing this off seasonason. Give me your thoughts in the YouTube comments. Uh remember the best way to help us grow the show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like, comment, subscribe on YouTube. But as always, thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for listening and we look forward to having you back right here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball.

Rockets Recruiting ADVANTAGE With Ime Udoka | Amen Thompson EMERGING As NBA’s Next SUPERSTAR?

Houston Rockets offseason strategy takes center stage. Will Ime Udoka’s player appeal be the key to landing a superstar?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) explores the Rockets potential moves, highlighting Udoka’s recruiting power and Amen Thompson’s All-Star trajectory, analyzing how lessons from the NBA playoffs could reshape Houston’s approach, questioning the importance of strict timelines in team building, making a case for adding a veteran scorer like Kevin Durant to address the Rockets late-game struggles while nurturing young talents such as Thompson and Alperen Sengun.

Tune in for an in-depth look at how the Rockets can balance immediate competitiveness with long-term development to close the gap with contenders like the OKC Thunder.

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