I mean he is good, just there is something about him, I have dreams and visions of him being a bust, I won’t listen to the visions…yet.

Looking at my board it's crystal clear: I have Amen and Ausar lower than the consensus. First, I'll defend my point of having Amen a lot higher than Ausar. I think their projected role in the NBA clearly makes Amen a player a lot more likely to have a high celling in the NBA. What's the ceilling of a uber athletic ball handlers in the league? Regular season MVP-level players: like Westbrook, Ja, Zion, Giannis and Rose. What's the ceilling of uber athletic wings that have shooting issues? Borderline or perennial All-Star: Rudy Gay, Demar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler.

When people say the Thompson twins have great athleticism, they aren’t joking. He’s an insane athlete with an unreal vertical. He has a quick load up and he’s an above the rim finisher. He can change directions quickly and can slash through the defense to finish at the rim. His insane athleticism and slashing gives Amen a high ceiling, and his bankable slashing and playmaking gives him a reasonable floor. At the least, he’s an elite slasher who’s great on defense. His defense is one of the best in the class, he’s got super long arms and his aforementioned athleticism allows him to be a lockdown defender. His big concerns are his jumper, which doesn’t have a good pathway to improve (horrible FT% and isn’t a good midrange shooter). Amen’s a talented player with lots of outlier skills which could make him a great NBA player.

Amen Thompson is one of the most athletic playmakers we have ever seen. He has an insane vertical and when put together with his amazing ability to shift his way around the floor it makes up an elite physical profile. At 6’7”, he’s huge for a guard and has really bullied his way into doing whatever he wants with Overtime Elite. Even though he hasn’t displayed crazy stats it’s very clear that he is a level above everyone else in the program despite the immense talent involved. Amen has a very shifty handle and is just a great fast-twitch athlete which allows him to work his way around defenses as he pleases while with OTE. Amen can get to the basket and ride up over anyone he wants, whenever he wants. He’s a monster in transition when it comes to running the floor for easy lays. He can fly in over defenses at such a lightning-fast pace, that he’s just impossible to stop. Right now those types of plays are what he mostly relies on when trying to score because his jump shot is frankly pretty awful. The shooting splits are horrific and the free throw percentage isn't too hope-inducing either. The fact that he isn’t able to produce good shooting numbers against such weak and inexperienced competition is really worrying about how his shot looks now and how it’s supposed to project. It’s really a mechanics issue that calls into question how his shooting was brought up. He looks uncomfortable shooting it from three and I'm sure he wouldn’t really shoot it if there wasn’t pressure for him to do so. In the midrange, he doesn't look quite as bad as he likes to threaten opponents with little pullups, jab steps, and fadeaways. Can he become a good three-point shooter at any point? Probably not. Could he get close to the league average? Possibly. If he does develop enough of a shot to at least give defenders some sort of reason to watch him on the perimeter, that would help his game and ability to be used as a guard immensely. He has shown flashes but he needs to practice bringing out the range of his shot. He relies too heavily on athletic yams and it seems like he just hasn’t practiced his three. If he doesn’t I'm afraid he might just fall into the Ben Simmons category of players which are honestly very hard to utilize at all. The Intriguing part of Amen’s offensive repertoire outside of his athleticism, is his ability to read the floor and make plays for others. He plays like a real point guard that looks to pass, which isn’t something you see very often from a guy that’s 6’7”. His sheer gravity on offense allows him to draw in the defense for easy kickouts but he definitely has shown a lot more than that. He can read the entirety of the court well and he loves to throw up lobs for big flashy plays. He’ll occasionally look like he should be a quarterback with the way he slings the ball down to a slasher in downhill situations. He’s great as a passer in transition and is pretty selfless when giving it up despite having the athletic capability to score himself. His tendency for these highlight passes can at times be a negative as it’s quite turnover prone. He gets a little too excited with the ball and needs to keep himself under control a bit more. Despite being an effective passer already, I think he might improve, especially when it comes to turnovers, once he gets some better offensive targets. Amen has the talent and skill with the ball to be a lead guard and ball handler in the league. I do have questions as to what he can provide without the ball in his hands other than being a cutter but that isn’t too much of a concern as I think he will stake his claim as a distributor. Amen is a solid defender but with his tools, he could be a lot better. He has big mental lapses, especially when it comes to off-ball defense. He’s better on the ball but I think that this is mainly due to his athletic prowess and dominance. One factor for the lack of maturity could be OTE itself as he’s guarding very sloppy and weak competition that has the same inexperienced weaknesses that he has himself. He would have to have quite a bit of improvement in the mental aspect if he wants to be a top talent on defense but he certainly has the tools and ability to do so. As much as I'm criticizing him, I wouldn’t say the defensive side of the ball is much of a weakness for him nor would I describe him as some sort of liability on that end of the floor. Amen is the first big look into how OTE develops prospects for the NBA. He is the first real high-level talent to come out of the program and not only is he a high-level talent but an elite one. I feel that the league isn’t amazing for preparing young talent for the NBA as it promotes sloppy and flashy play. I hope Amen dismisses these worries for me by having his talent shine through but I’m doubtful. He has the ceiling to be a top-10 player in the league and if he shows improvement in his biggest weakness, shooting, against higher-level opponents he could possibly earn some talk as the second selection.